SFTPD and lung disorder: In parallel to the dichotomous nature of NO in the lung, the pulmonary collectin surfactant protein D (SP-D) (Swissprot (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/swissprot/index.html) accession number P50404) has been shown to be important in mediating pathogen clearance and the pulmonary inflammatory response, whereas animals lacking SP-D develop spontaneous inflammation within the lung and associated pulmonary disease [19,20].