Early life surfactant protein-D levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of extremely preterm neonates

Surfactant protein-D (SP-D) is a hydrophilic protein with multiple crucial anti-inflammatory and immunological functions. It might play a role in the development and course of pulmonary infections, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and other respiratory disorders. Only few small neonatal studies have investigated SP-D: we aimed to investigate the links between this protein, measured in the first hours of life in extremely preterm neonates, and clinical outcomes, as well its relationship with pulmonary secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2). Bronchoalveolar lavage fluids were obtained within the first 3 h of life. SP-D and sPLA2 were measured with ELISA and radioactive method, respectively; epithelial lining fluid concentrations were estimated with urea ratio. Clinical data were prospectively collected. One hundred extremely preterm neonates were nonconsecutively studied. SP-D was significantly raised with increasing gestational age (24-26 wk: 68 [0-1,694], 27 or 28 wk: 286 [0-1,328], 29 or 30 wk: 1,401 [405-2,429] ng/mL, overall P = 0.03). SP-D was significantly higher in cases with clinical chorioamnionitis with fetal involvement (1,138 [68-3,336]) than in those without clinical chorioamnionitis with fetal involvement (0 [0-900] ng/mL, P < 0.001). SP-D was lower in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) (251 [0-1,550 ng/mL]) compared with those without bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or who died before its diagnosis (977 [124-5,534 ng/mL], P = 0.05) and this was also significant upon multivariate analysis [odds ration (OR): 0.997 (0.994-0.999), P = 0.024], particularly in neonates between 27- and 28-wk gestation. SP-D significantly correlated with the duration of hospital stay (rho = -0.283, P = 0.002), invasive ventilation (rho = -0.544, P = 0.001), and total sPLA2 activity (rho = 0.528, P = 0.008). These findings help understanding the role of SP-D early in life and support further investigation about the role of SP-D in developing BPD. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Surfactant protein-D increases with gestational age and is inversely associated with BPD development. These results have been obtained in the first hours of life of extremely preterm neonates with optimal perinatal care.