Nichols B A
J Exp Med. 1976 Oct 1;144(4):906-19. doi: 10.1084/jem.144.4.906.
Normal rabbit alveolar macrophages are engorged with large, dense inclusions which contain whorls of myelin figures, suggesting an exogenous source of polar lipids in their diet. One contributory source of such lipids is surfactant, since macrophages were seen ingesting tubular myelin and vacuoles containing remnants of it were found in the cytoplasm. Thus, as indicated previously in kinetic studies, it appears that alveolar macrophages participate in the turnover of surfactant. However, the relative importance of the macrophage in comparison to other pathways of surfactant removal remains to be determined. It is also noteworthy that although tubular myelin and myelin figures were abundant in the fixative used to wash out the lungs, bacteria were not found in it or in the macrophages. Thus, removal of obsolete surfactant may prove to be one of the mojor endocytic functions of alveolar macrophages.
正常兔肺泡巨噬细胞充满了大的、致密的内含物，这些内含物含有髓磷脂样结构的漩涡，提示其饮食中存在极性脂质的外源性来源。此类脂质的一个促成来源是表面活性剂，因为观察到巨噬细胞摄取管状髓磷脂，并且在细胞质中发现含有其残余物的液泡。因此，如先前动力学研究所示，肺泡巨噬细胞似乎参与了表面活性剂的周转。然而，与其他表面活性剂清除途径相比，巨噬细胞的相对重要性仍有待确定。同样值得注意的是，尽管用于冲洗肺部的固定剂中管状髓磷脂和髓磷脂样结构丰富，但在其中或巨噬细胞中均未发现细菌。因此，清除过时的表面活性剂可能是肺泡巨噬细胞的主要内吞功能之一。
