Surface characteristics of vertebrate lung extracts

Abstract
It has been suggested that alveolar stability is due, in part, to the presence of a noncellular alveolar lining which changes surface tension with changing surface area. Extracts of mammalian lungs manifest a decrease in surface tension with decrease in surface area. To compare surface characteristics with respiratory mechanics and anatomy, lung extracts were prepared from amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Lung extracts from mammalian lungs with true alveolar structure show typical surface tension-surface area characteristics, whereas other vertebrate lung extracts behave similarly to most other biological fluids. An alveolar lining layer with surface behavior similar to mammalian lung extracts would be expected to contribute to alveolar stability. Submitted on June 28, 1961

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