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Using an experimental model, it has been demonstrated that the compression and expansion of a monomolecular film permits a unidirectional transport of particles which are present on this film. The possibility of similar transport mechanisms in the peripheral airways is discussed as one can assume that analogous dynamic conditions exist in the peripheral airways for the surfactant film.

It has been demonstrated that compression and expansion of a monomolecular film lead to a unidirectional transport of particles which are present on this film. Using the same model we could demonstrate that Broncho-Alveolar Lavage fluids from healthy rats also produce a transport of particles in the direction of the compression phase and that lavage fluids from SO2 exposed rats show impaired and even reversed transport properties. In parallel there is a change of the phospholipid pattern in lavage fluid from SO2 exposed animals. The relevance of these observations is discussed for physiological and pathophysiological situations in the lung periphery.