Lipid composition of pulmonary surfactant in breeding foxes with cardiopulmonary insufficiency.

The lipid composition of the pulmonary surfactant of breeding foxes was examined. The surfactant isolated from healthy polar and common foxes did not show significant strain differences in lipid composition. On the other hand, in the surfactant isolated from the lung of common foxes that died with the symptoms of cardiopulmonary insufficiency the quantity of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol was lower and that of sphingomyelin and lysophosphoglycerides was higher than in the surfactants prepared from healthy animals. Moreover, in the phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol fractions of the surfactant isolated from the diseased animals the level of palmitic acid was significantly lower.