Human biological liquids contain numerous low- and high-molecular weight surfactants. The human organism contains
interfaces with enormous surfaces. The physicochemical and biochemical processes taking place at these interfaces
are extremely important for the vital functions of the organism as a whole, and the interfacial properties may
reflect peculiarities of age and sex, health and disease. The present book is the first attempt to systematically
present the results of dynamic and equilibrium surface tensions measurements of serum and urine samples that were
obtained from healthy humans of various sex and age, and to compare these results with measurements of biological
liquids obtained from patients suffering from various diseases or with measurements of amniotic fluid obtained
from women at various stages of pregnancy.
Pulmonary medicine, especially neonatology, has systematically used interfacial tensiometry for studying pulmonary
surfactant. In this particular area, significant progress was achieved in the treatment of diseases related to
alterations of the lung surfactant system. We believe that, similar to the progress in pulmonary medicine attributed
to surface chemical studies of lung surfactant, progress in other medical branches could be expected through studies
of interfacial characteristics of other human biological liquids.