Epithelial lining fluid surfactant

Once a drug aerosol has made its way through the conducting airways to deposit in the deep lung, the major barriers to entering the body are the 0.15 pm layer of type I alveolar cells that are covered by a very thin layer of epithelial lining fluid consisting mainly of surfactant and the relatively permeable endothelium of the alveolar capillaries. Alveolar cells have so called... 

Hallman M, Merritt TA, Akino T, Bry K. Surfactant protein A, phosphatidylcholine, and surfactant inhibitors in epithelial lining fluid. Am Rev Respir Dis 1991 144 1376-1384. 

The answer is A. Lung surfactant reduces surface tension of the fluid lining the alveoli to increase pulmonary compliance and facilitate exchange of gases dissolved in that fluid from inspired air into the airway epithelial cells and eventually by diffusion into the blood. Although all the other options represent properties of water or solutions, they have nothing to do with the properties of surfactant. 

Figure 1 Diagrammatic representation of the ultrastructure of the respiratory membrane. Arrows indicate the passage of drugs (horizontal heavy lines) through the respiratory membrane after alveolar or capillary exposure, or of metabolites (horizontal broken lines) generated in the epithelial or endothelial layers. Key (1) monomolecular surfactant layers, (2) thin fluid film, (3) interstitial space, (4) endothelial capillary basement membrane, (5) drug transport from the alveoli, (6) absorption of drug into endothelial cells from the circulation, (7) transport of drug from the circulation to alveolar epithelium, (8) transport of drug from the circulation to the alveoli. (From Ref. 102. Reproduced by permission, CRC Press, Inc.)...

The surfactant film at the air-mucus interface is probably important for the rheological properties of the extracellular layer by stabilizing the aqueous layer mechanically and by reducing the evaporation of water (54,93). These are well-known functions of surfactant films if spread on top of a water surfaee (94). Fluid balance in the airway lining layer may also be influenced by the recently demonstrated effeet of surfactant in stimulating chloride secretion by airway epithelial cells (95). 

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