Figure 2

Fractional incorporation of methyl- D ₉ -choline into total phosphatidylcholine (A) and PC16:0/16:0 (B) from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and induced sputum. Comparison of methyl-D₉ incorporation into total PC between bronchoalveolar lavage and tracheal wash (C) and bronchoalveolar lavage and induced sputum (D). The incorporation data for tracheal wash is not shown here as it followed the exact same pattern as BALF. Results are calculated as from the abundance of methyl-D₉-PC species expressed as a percentage of endogenous PC + methyl-D₉-PC species (mean ± SD. Incorporation into PC16:0/16:0 but not into total PC was significantly lower in IS than BALF at 24 h (*P < 0.05) but not at 48 h. (PC, phosphatidylcholine; BALF, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; IS, induced sputum, r²-Pearson correlation coefficient).