Effect of postganglionic parasympathetic blockade on pulmonary surfactant.

Abstract

The existence of a highly surface-active lining at the air-tissue interface in the lungs of a wide variety of species is well established, even though the exact chemical nature of the substance in situ is the subject of controversy (3). Tooley et al. (5) and Bolande and Klaus (1) reported that extracts obtained from the lungs of guinea pigs 2-4 hr after bilateral cervical vagotomy exhibited higher minimum surface tensions than similar extracts obtained from control animals, although the latter investigators felt that the altered surface properties of lung extracts obtained postvagotomy were secondary to the development of pulmonary edema.Pulmonary edema is the inevitable consequence of bilateral cervical vagotomy, and edemagenesis could easily mask any effect which interruption of the parasympathetic nerve supply to the lungs might have on the production and/or release of pulmonary surfactant. It was therefore felt that postganglionic parasympathetic blockade with atropine would aid in revealing whether a...