Active transport and passive liquid movement in isolated perfused rat lungs.

The isolated perfused liquid-filled rat lung in a "pleural bath" was the model used to study liquid exchange across the lung epithelium. Active transport and passive solute movement between the air space, the vascular perfusate, and the bath result in concentration changes of the three markers (Evans blue-tagged albumin, 22Na+, and [3H]mannitol) instilled in the air space. A mathematical model was developed to estimate the active and passive solute transports and to interpret the results.