Comment on “Bilayer aggregate microstructure determines viscoelasticity of lung surfactant suspensions” by C. O. Ciutara and J. A. Zasadzinski, Soft Matter, 2021, 17, 5170–5182

Abstract

For applications of pulmonary surfactant delivery to the lungs, the question of rheology of the existing clinical formulations is of upmost importance. Recently, Ciutara and Zasadsinky (C. O. Ciutara and J. A. Zasadzinski, Soft Matter, 2021, 17, 5170–5182.) measured the rheological properties of Infasurf®, Survanta® and Curosurf®, three of the most used pulmonary surfactant substitutes. This study revealed that these fluids are shear-thinning and characterized by a yield stress. The results obtained by Ciutara et al. on Curosurf® differ from our results published in L.-P.-A. Thai, F. Mousseau, E. Oikonomou, M. Radiom and J.-F. Berret, Colloids Surf., B, 2019, 178, 337–345. and in L.-P.-A. Thai, F. Mousseau, E. Oikonomou, M. Radiom and J.-F. Berret, ACS Nano, 2020, 14, 466–475. In contrast, we found that Curosurf® suspensions are viscous Newtonian or slightly shear-thinning fluids, with no evidence of yield stress. The purpose of this Comment is to discuss possible causes for the discrepancy between the two studies, and to suggest that for biological fluids such as surfactant substitutes, the microrheology technique of rotational magnetic spectroscopy (MRS) can provide valuable results.