“…Infection or sepsis may be implicated in the pathogenesis of some of the pulmonary diseases for which SP-A has been suggested as a biomarker. Several studies have demonstrated strong associations between SP-A levels and various pulmonary diseases, including respiratory-distress syndrome, acute respiratory-distress syndrome (Ikegami et al, 2006), acute lung injury (Inase et al, 2006), interstitial lung disease (Takahashi et al, 2006), pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (Nadesalingam et al, 2005), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (Vazquez de Lara et al, 2000, collagen vascular diseases (Kankavi, 2006), asthma, allergies, COPD, and others (Clark and Reid, 2003). Gold et al (2004) evaluated SP-A levels from pulmonary tuberculosis patients pretherapy and post-treatment in the alveolar lavage fluid, and found much higher SP-A levels post-treatment.…”