Figure 3.

Effect of estrogen on small airway ciliary motion. (A) Magnitude and beat frequency of ciliary motion were measured with a photodiode-based displacement measurement system. The slit shows the target area with several beating cilia. (B and C) Representative responses of spontaneous ciliary motion recorded before (black) and 3 minutes after (red) treatment with 10⁻¹¹ M 17β-estradiol (E₂). (D) The power spectra (peaks) of the two upper traces were analyzed using fast Fourier transform analysis. Treatment with E₂ increased the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) from 14.64 Hz to 20.75 Hz. (E) Bell-shaped, dose-dependent effects of E₂ on small airway CBF. The range of resting CBF was 10–19 Hz. The average CBF percent changes represent the percent changes of each targeted spot before versus after treatment with E₂, averaged for the same dose of E₂. Differences before and after treatment with E₂: *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01.