Determinants of Circulating Surfactant Protein Levels in Health and Disease

肺允许血液的氧合和二氧化碳的清除。为了实现这一点，一个大的表面积（50-100平方米）接口与复杂的微循环在0.1-0.2？肺泡毛细血管膜。肺泡毛细血管膜在各种情况下受损，严重程度不同。而严重的损害导致呼吸衰竭，通常没有明确的界限之间的O可接受的O和O病理变化。因此，我们创造了术语Olung healthO来涵盖广泛的范围。一般来说，肺部健康可能会受到生活方式或疾病的影响。虽然生活方式的改变通常是渐进和慢性的，但与疾病相关的改变往往是严重和急性的。监测肺部健康显然对职业健康和生活方式问题（包括吸烟）具有重要意义。对肺通透性标志物的需求也被认为是重症监护环境中的圣杯。目前，没有办法这样做。肺泡内有一层液体层，其中分泌着脂质和特定蛋白质的复杂混合物，称为肺泡表面活性剂。表面活性剂减少呼吸功。最近，我们偶然发现，表面活性蛋白泄漏到循环中，其水平的变化是一个敏感的和早期的肺通用指标？的完整性。我们发现，从吸烟到急性呼吸窘迫综合征等不同条件下的肺损伤都会提高循环表面活性蛋白水平。为了完善我们的发现，我们的目标是：改进用于测量蛋白质的技术研究它们进入和清除循环的速率研究储存、性别、年龄、昼夜节律和吸烟对水平的影响研究急性肺损伤和放射治疗和细胞毒性药物治疗中的水平，其中监测肺损伤的能力对患者有直接的益处。

The lung allows the oxygenation of blood and clearance of carbon dioxide. To achieve this a large surface area (50-100 m2) interfaces with a complex microcirculation across a 0.1-0.2 ?m barrier - the alveolocapillary membrane. The alveolocapillary membrane is damaged under a variety of circumstances, of varying severity. Whereas severe impairment results in respiratory failure, often there is no clear delineation between OacceptableO and OpathologicalO changes. Therefore, we have coined the term Olung healthO to encompass the broad spectrum. Generally speaking, lung health can be compromised by lifestyle or disease. Whereas lifestyle changes are typically progressive and chronic, those associated with disease tend to be severe and acute. Monitoring lung health clearly has important implications in terms of occupational health and lifestyle issues, including smoking. The need for a marker of lung permeability is also regarded as the Oholy grailO in the intensive care setting. Currently, there is no way of doing so. The alveolus is lined with a liquid layer into which is secreted a complex mixture of lipids and specific proteins known as alveolar surfactant. Surfactant reduces the work of breathing. Recently, we fortuitously discovered that surfactant proteins leak into the circulation and that changes in their levels are a sensitive and early generic index of the lung?s integrity. We discovered that lung damage from conditions as diverse as smoking to the acute respiratory distress syndrome elevate circulating surfactant proteins levels. To refine our discovery we aim to: Improve the techniques used to measure the proteins Study the rate at which they enter and clear the circulation Study the influence of storage, gender, age, circadian rhythm, and smoking on the levels Study the levels in acute lung injury and in radiotherapy and cytotoxic drug treatment where the ability to monitor lung damage has immediate benefit for the patients.