Effect of lipid and protein fractions from fetal pulmonary surfactant on prostaglandin E production by a human amnion cell line.

Discs of amnion and choriodecidua prepared from women delivered at term were incubated with and without surfactant prepared from human amniotic fluid and the output of prostaglandin E (PGE) was estimated by radioimmunoassay. Surfactant stimulated the release of PGE in both tissues. The stimulatory effect was characterized further using cultured human amnion cells. The effect was dose- and time-dependent and required for full expression both protein and lipid components of surfactant. Arachidonate constituted about 3.5% of the fatty acids of fetal surfactant phospholipids. These findings suggest that surfactant is an important source of arachidonate for intrauterine PG synthesis.