Reduced levels of pulmonary surfactant in COVID-19 ARDS
Peter Schousboe, Andreas Ronit, Henning B. Nielsen, Thomas Benfield, Lothar Wiese, Nikolaos Scoutaris, Henrik Verder, Ronan M. G. Berg, Povl Verder, Ronni R. Plovsing
Abstract
To provide novel data on surfactant levels in adult COVID-19 patients, we collected bronchoalveolar lavage fluid less than 72 h after intubation and used Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to measure levels of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC). A total of eleven COVID-19 patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS (CARDS) and 15 healthy controls were included. CARDS patients had lower DPPC levels than healthy controls. Moreover, a principal component analysis was able to separate patient groups into distinguishable subgroups. Our findings indicate markedly impaired pulmonary surfactant levels in COVID-19 patients, justifying further studies and clinical trials of exogenous surfactant.