Restoration of the interfacial properties of lung surfactant with a newly designed hydrocarbon/fluorocarbon lipid.

Serum proteins, especially fibrinogen, inactivate the lung surfactant mixture by adsorbing quickly and irreversibly to the alveolar air/aqueous interface. As a consequence of the inactivation, the surfactant becomes dysfunctional, and respiration cannot be maintained properly. Preventing the adsorption of surface active serum proteins to the air/water interface is important because this phenomenon causes fatal diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).