Phospholipase activities of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in rat Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia

Abstract

Respiratory distress, main clinical symptom of P. carinii pneumonia, is unexplained. We wondered if it could be linked with a lung surfactant anomaly. We have shown in the bronchoalveolar fluid lavage of P. carinii-infected rats: a very significant decrease of the phospholipid content; a lowering of the phospholipid/protein ratio; and an increase in phospholipase activities, partly due to the activation of an inactive phospholipase into the active form. We conclude that, in P. carinii-infected rats, there is an increased catabolism of lung surfactant.