Figure 2

Surface activity of a surfactant fraction obtained from bronchoalveolar lavages in 20 patients with cystic fibrosis assessed in a pulsating bubble surfactometer (upper left panel), i.e. expressed as surface tension at minimum bubble radius (squares) and surface tension at adsorption (triangles), assessed in a capillary surfactometer (lower left panel), i.e. expressed as the percentage of time open of a small capillary of total time. The percentage of neutrophils (upper right panel) and the absolute number of neutrophils (lower right panel) as markers of inflammation in their BAL fluids are also indicated. Data are given as mean and standard error of the mean. Differences between the different time points were assessed by nonparametric Friedman ANOVA, followed by Dunn's post hoc multiple comparison test. The asterisks indicates a significantly different value, compared to the first data point (* P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01). The open symbols represent values in normal subjects assessed with the same methodolgy [7,29].