Surfactant Secretion and Respiratory Distress Syndromes

Excerpt

Control of secretion from many organs has interested clinicians and physiologists for more than a half century, but only recently has attention been directed to control of one of the most essential secretions, the pulmonary surfactant. The lung is rarely considered when secretory organs are discussed, but the exocrine secretion of surfactant onto the alveolar surface is vital, and inadequate secretion of surfactant will produce the respiratory distress syndromes in adults or infants. The secretory cells for surfactant appear to be the type II cells (1, 2) that constitute part of the alveolar epithelial lining and that number about 2%