AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 257, Issue 5 1466-H1470, Copyright © 1989 by American Physiological Society
Effect of lysophosphatidylcholine on the filtration coefficient in intact dog lungs
B. D. Butler, I. Davies and R. E. Drake
Department of Anesthesiology, University of Texas Medical School, Houston 77030.
Lysophosphatidylcholine (lyso-Pc) is a lysophospholipid normally found in
low concentrations in the lung. At high concentrations lyso-Pc, instilled
into the airways, causes pulmonary edema. We tested the hypothesis that the
edema caused by lyso-Pc was due to an increase in pulmonary microvascular
membrane permeability. In 11 anesthetized dogs we continuously weighed the
left lower lobes (LLL) while instilling lyso-Pc (20 mM) into the LLL
airways. After 30 min we determined the microvascular membrane fluid
filtration coefficient (Kf) from the relationship between the rate of LLL
weight gain and the pulmonary microvascular pressure. Kf was not
significantly different between the lyso-Pc-treated lobes (0.048 +/- 0.018
ml.min-1.mmHg-1) vs. control lobes (0.067 +/- 0.031 ml.min-1.mmHg-1). Our
data do not support the hypothesis that lyso-Pc, instilled into the
airways, causes an increase in pulmonary microvascular permeability.
