Skip to main content
PMC home page
Thorax logoLink to Thorax
. 1985 Mar;40(3):171–175. doi: 10.1136/thx.40.3.171

Tracheobronchial mucociliary clearance in asthma: impairment during remission.

D Pavia, J R Bateman, N F Sheahan, J E Agnew, S W Clarke
PMCID: PMC460018  PMID: 3983883

Abstract

Tracheobronchial mucociliary clearance was measured in eight non-smoking patients with asthma in complete remission. The patients were symptom free and required no medication whatsoever for one to six months before assessment. Mucociliary clearance was measured with an objective, radioaerosol technique. For comparison, mucociliary clearance of eight non-smoking, healthy subjects with physical characteristics and pulmonary function similar to those of the asthmatics was also measured on two occasions. In their first assessment the healthy subjects inhaled the tracer radioaerosol under experimental conditions similar to those used for the asthmatics; in the second assessment they inhaled the radioaerosol rapidly to simulate the asthmatic pattern of deposition. Under similar experimental conditions the radioaerosol was deposited more proximally in the asthmatic subjects than in the normal subjects and the difference was statistically significant (p less than 0.01). When, however, the depth of radioaerosol lung penetration was similar in the two groups, there was evidence of a significantly (p less than 0.01) poorer mucociliary clearance six hours after radioaerosol inhalation in the asthmatic than in the healthy group. These findings raise the question whether asthma ever remits completely.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Agnew J. E., Bateman J. R., Pavia D., Clarke S. W. A model for assessing bronchial mucus transport. J Nucl Med. 1984 Feb;25(2):170–176. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Agnew J. E., Bateman J. R., Watts M., Paramananda V., Pavia D., Clarke S. W. The importance of aerosol penetration for lung mucociliary clearance studies. Chest. 1981 Dec;80(6 Suppl):843–846. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Agnew J. E., Little F., Pavia D., Clarke S. W. Mucus clearance from the airways in chronic bronchitis--Smokers and ex-smokers. Bull Eur Physiopathol Respir. 1982 May-Jun;18(3):473–484. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Agnew J. E., Pavia D., Clarke S. W. Airways penetration of inhaled radioaerosol: an index to small airways function? Eur J Respir Dis. 1981 Aug;62(4):239–255. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bateman J. R., Pavia D., Sheahan N. F., Agnew J. E., Clarke S. W. Impaired tracheobronchial clearance in patients with mild stable asthma. Thorax. 1983 Jun;38(6):463–467. doi: 10.1136/thx.38.6.463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Camner P., Jarstrand C., Philipson K. Tracheobronchial clearance in patients with influenza. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1973 Jul;108(1):131–135. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1973.108.1.131. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Camner P., Philipson K., Arvidsson T. Withdrawal of cigarette smoking: a study on tracheobronchial clearance. Arch Environ Health. 1973 Feb;26(2):90–92. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1973.10666231. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dulfano M. J., Luk C. K. Sputum and ciliary inhibition in asthma. Thorax. 1982 Sep;37(9):646–651. doi: 10.1136/thx.37.9.646. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Foster W. M., Langenback E. G., Bergofsky E. H. Lung mucociliary function in man: interdependence of bronchial and tracheal mucus transport velocities with lung clearance in bronchial asthma and healthy subjects. Ann Occup Hyg. 1982;26(1-4):227–244. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jarstrand C., Camner P., Philipson K. Mycoplasma pneumoniae and tracheobronchial clearance. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1974 Oct;110(4):415–419. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1974.110.4.415. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Knudson R. J., Slatin R. C., Lebowitz M. D., Burrows B. The maximal expiratory flow-volume curve. Normal standards, variability, and effects of age. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1976 May;113(5):587–600. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1976.113.5.587. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mezey R. J., Cohn M. A., Fernandez R. J., Januszkiewicz A. J., Wanner A. Mucociliary transport in allergic patients with antigen-induced bronchospasm. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1978 Oct;118(4):677–684. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1978.118.4.677. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pavia D., Sutton P. P., Agnew J. E., Lopez-Vidriero M. T., Newman S. P., Clarke S. W. Measurement of bronchial mucociliary clearance. Eur J Respir Dis Suppl. 1983;127:41–56. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Pavia D., Sutton P. P., Lopez-Vidriero M. T., Agnew J. E., Clarke S. W. Drug effects on mucociliary function. Eur J Respir Dis Suppl. 1983;128(Pt 1):304–317. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pavia D., Thomson M. L., Clarke S. W., Shannon H. S. Effect of lung function and mode of inhalation on penetration of aerosol into the human lung. Thorax. 1977 Apr;32(2):194–197. doi: 10.1136/thx.32.2.194. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Thomson M. L., Pavia D. Long-term tobacco smoking and mucociliary clearance from the human lung in health and respiratory impairment. Arch Environ Health. 1973 Feb;26(2):86–89. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1973.10666230. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Thorax are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES