The status of pulmonary host defense in the neonatal sheep: cellular and humoral aspects.

In consideration of the sheep neonate as a compromised host, we have examined the status of cellular and humoral pulmonary host defense components at selected developmental time points. The dynamic character of the early neonatal LFC population, reflected in changes in subpopulations and proliferative capacity, most probably contributed to the observed changes in in vitro cell function. While certain cell responses, e.g., blood and LFC PMN chemotaxis, appeared intact by day 1, others developed subsequently. The ability of AMs to elaborate a chemotactic factor(s) was first noted at day 21. Bacteria binding and killing presented a biphasic maturation pattern, with full competence not present until day 180. Although the in vitro binding and killing activity of day 8 LFCs was comparable to that of the adult, it may be a poor indicator of in vivo host defense capacity, given the relative paucity of endogenous opsonins at that age. In fact, the interdependence of mediators suggests that the sheep neonate may remain a compromised host during the first 3 months of life. Thereafter, cellular and humoral parameters begin to approximate those of adult sheep and by 180 days of life pulmonary defense, as assessed in this study, is fully developed.