Estrogen stimulation of surfactant synthesis.

Administration of 17 beta-estradiol to pregnant rabbits accelerates fetal lung maturation and stimulates surfactant production: the hormone increases the amount of surfactant in fetal lung lavage, increases the rate of phosphatidylcholine synthesis, depletes fetal lung glycogen, and accelerates morphologic maturation of the fetal lung. Both estrogens and glucocorticoids stimulate fetal lung cholinephosphate cytidylyltransferase in a number of in vivo and in vitro systems and there is increasing evidence that this enzyme may be of particular importance in the regulation of phosphatidylcholine synthesis. Estrogen appears to increase the catalytic activity rather than the amount of cholinephosphate cytidylyltransferase. This action of estrogen is mediated by phospholipids.