Spectroscopic research of the effect of inhalational anesthetics on the structure of pulmonary surfactant

Plućni surfaktant čiji sastav čine fosfolipidi i četiri proteina specifična za surfaktant, jedna je od prvih struktura izloženih utjecaju inhalacijskih anestetika. Promjene uzrokovane utjecajem anestetika mogle bi biti jedan od mehanizama nastanka respiratornih komplikacija nakon dugotrajnih anestezioloških postupaka. U ovom je radu uporabom infracrvene spektroskopije s Fourierovom transformacijom (FTIR) istraživan utjecaj anestetika izoflurana i sevoflurana na plućni surfaktant. Snimljeni spektri su analizirani metodom analize glavnih komponenti, a proveden je i Studentov t-test. Najizraženiji učinak opažen je u području polarnih glava molekula fosfolipida gdje uslijed djelovanja anestetika dolazi do prekidanja vodikovih veza, dok promjene intenziteta vibracijskih vrpci istezanja CH2 skupine govore u prilog porastu nereda u području hidrofobnih repova fosfolipida. Naposlijetku, rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da se FTIR spektroskopija može s uspjehom primjenjivati u istraživanjima utjecaja anestetika na plućni surfaktant.Pulmonary surfactant, consisting of phospholipids and four surfactant specific proteins is among the first structures exposed to inhalational anesthetics. Changes due to this exposure could be one of the reasons for respiratory complications after long anesthetic procedures. In this doctoral thesis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to explore the effects of isoflurane and sevoflurane on pulmonary surfactant. Recorded spectra were analysed using Principal Component Analysis and an additional Student's t-test was performed. The most pronounced effect was to the polar head group of phospholipids, which is in agreement with the disruption of the hydrogen bond, caused by the anesthetics. A change in the band intensities of the CH2 stretching vibrations, indicative of a disordering effect of anesthetics on the hydrophobic tails of phospholipids was also observed. Furthermore, our results suggest that FTIR spectroscopy is a promising tool in research of anesthetic effect on pulmonary surfactant