Fig 4. Macroaggreggate albumin (MAA)-Tc99m evaluation as a radiotracer to monitor mucociliary clearance.
A) Micro-CT coupled to SPECT representative image of intratracheal instillated MAA-Tc99m at time 0. B) Micro-CT coupled to SPECT representative image of intratracheal instillated MAA-Tc99m at time 360 min. C) Effects of bitter taste agonists chloroquine, denatonium and saccharin on % MAA-Tc99m radiation intensity. Representative images of n = 12 guinea pig per condition are showed. Colorimetric intensity scale adjusted for all images is shown. 100% MAA-Tc99m intensity corresponds to the start of experiments (t = 0min) for all experimental conditions). Results are expressed as mean ± SD. One-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA): P>0.05. Post hoc Bonferroni test: P>0.05 compared with controls.