The New England Journal of Medicine
e-mail icon  FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |    Advanced Search
Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe
 
Review Article
Mechanisms of Disease
PreviousPrevious
Volume 349:2527-2539 December 25, 2003 Number 26
NextNext

Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis
Bruce C. Trapnell, M.D., Jeffrey A. Whitsett, M.D., and Koh Nakata, M.D., Ph.D.

Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

 Sign up for free e-toc
 

This Article
-Full Text
- PDF
-PDA Full Text
-Purchase this article

Tools and Services
-Add to Personal Archive
-Add to Citation Manager
-Notify a Friend
-E-mail When Cited
-E-mail When Letters Appear

More Information
-PubMed Citation
Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is a rare disorder in which lipoproteinaceous material accumulates within alveoli.1 The clinical course of the disease is variable, ranging from respiratory failure to spontaneous resolution. An important feature of the disease is susceptibility to pulmonary infections, sometimes with opportunistic organisms.

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis occurs in three clinically distinct forms: congenital, secondary, and acquired. The congenital form comprises a heterogeneous group of disorders2 caused by mutations in the genes encoding surfactant protein B or C or the {beta}C chain of the receptor for granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF).3,4,5,6,7 Secondary pulmonary alveolar proteinosis develops in association with conditions involving functional . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Epidemiology

Clinical, Radiographic, and Laboratory Manifestations

Clinical Presentation

Laboratory Findings

Pulmonary Function

Characteristics of Bronchoalveolar-Lavage Fluid

Pathological Features

Natural History

Surfactant Homeostasis

Mouse Models

GM-CSF and Surfactant Homeostasis

            Effect of GM-CSF Replacement

            Cellular Target of GM-CSF

Immune Functions of Alveolar Macrophages and GM-CSF

Role of the Transcription Factor PU.1

Lessons from Animal Models

Pathogenesis in Humans

Role of Autoimmunity

            Inhibition of Alveolar Macrophages

            Role of GM-CSF

            Autoantibodies against GM-CSF

Pulmonary Cytokines

Therapeutic Approaches

Current Approaches

GM-CSF Therapy

Conclusions


Source Information

From the Divisions of Pulmonary Biology (B.C.T., J.A.W.) and Neonatology (J.A.W.), Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati; and the Department of Respiratory Diseases, International Medical Center of Japan, Tokyo (K.N.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Trapnell at the Division of Pulmonary Biology, Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45229, or at bruce.trapnell@cchmc.org.


This article has been cited by other articles:



HOME  |  SUBSCRIBE  |  SEARCH  |  CURRENT ISSUE  |  PAST ISSUES  |  COLLECTIONS  |  PRIVACY  |  HELP  |  beta.nejm.org

Comments and questions? Please contact us.

The New England Journal of Medicine is owned, published, and copyrighted © 2008 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.