Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Medicine and Toxicology, Hannover, Germany.
Swiss Med Wkly. 2013 Jul 29;143:w13818. doi: 10.4414/smw.2013.13818. eCollection 2013.
Pulmonary surfactant is a complex mixture of unique proteins and lipids that covers the airway lumen. Surfactant prevents alveolar collapse and maintains airway patency by reducing surface tension at the air-liquid interface. Furthermore, it provides a defence against antigen uptake by binding foreign particles and enhancing cellular immune responses. Allergic asthma is associated with chronic airway inflammation and presents with episodes of airway narrowing. The pulmonary inflammation and bronchoconstriction can be triggered by exposure to allergens or pathogens present in the inhaled air. Pulmonary surfactant has the potential to interact with various immune cells which orchestrate allergen- or pathogen-driven episodes of airway inflammation. The complex nature of surfactant allows multiple sites of interaction, but also makes it susceptible to external alterations, which potentially impair its function. This duality of modulating airway physiology and immunology during inflammatory conditions, while at the same time being prone to alterations accompanied by restricted function, has stimulated numerous studies in recent decades, which are reviewed in this article.
肺表面活性剂是一种独特的蛋白质和脂质的复杂混合物，覆盖在气道腔中。肺表面活性剂通过降低气液界面的表面张力，防止肺泡塌陷并保持气道通畅。此外，它通过结合外来颗粒并增强细胞免疫反应，提供了对抗抗原摄取的防御。过敏性哮喘与慢性气道炎症有关，并表现为气道狭窄发作。气道炎症和支气管收缩可由吸入空气中的过敏原或病原体暴露引起。肺表面活性剂有可能与各种免疫细胞相互作用，这些免疫细胞协调过敏原或病原体驱动的气道炎症发作。表面活性剂的复杂性质允许多个相互作用位点，但也使其容易受到外部改变的影响，这可能会损害其功能。这种在炎症条件下调节气道生理学和免疫学的双重性，同时又容易受到功能受限的改变的影响，激发了近几十年来的大量研究，本文对此进行了综述。
