A study for pulmonary cell preservation and lung transplantation on functions of alveolar epithelial ion transport

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In patients of chronic pulmonary emphysema or pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary epithelial cells were irreversibly damaged. These phenomena, combined with recent advancing of age of population, are one of the important reasons for an increase in number of chronic respiratory failure. Therefore, we started to study whether transplantation of pulmonary type 2 cells are feasible for a therapy of impairment of pulmonary epithelial functions.In 1996, we established a method of separation and culture for pulmonary type 2 cells, and a method of measurement of activity of Na^+-K^+-ATPase, which is the main function of pulmonary type 2 cells.ln 1997, we tried to establish a more effective separation method of pulmonary type 2 cells using a cell sorter. Although, this new method has not been established yet, we could separate pulmonary type 2 cells with purity of more than 80 %.Then we tried to establish a method for keeping viability of pulmonary type 2 cells by studying pulmonary cellular preservation. We compared pulmonary preservation mediums EP4 solution, established by our institute, and Euro-Collins solution (EC), usual preservation medium. When we measured alveolar epithelial functions using Alveolar Fluid Clearance (AFC), EP4 maintained alveolar epithelial functions but EC could not maintain those.In lung injury models, we showed that cyclooxygenase inhibitor prevented the pulmonary vascular permeability. Therefore, we tested steroid for function of alveolar epithelial cells. In this experiment, gluco-corticoid increased AFC.This is a new evidence that steroid acts not only as an anti-inflammatory agent but to protect living body from lung injury by pumping up alveolar fluid to lung interstitial space.