EFFECT OF ATROPINE ON NASAL MUCOCILIARY CLEARANCE

To investigate the effect of atropine on mucociliary function, nasal mucociliary clearance was measured with two methods in eight healthy men before and after subcutaneous injection of atropine sulphate. The movement of two different tracers placed 1.5 cm posterior to the inferior turbinate tip was measured. The transport rate of a resin particle tagged with Tc was measured. The clearance of 10 ul saline labelled with Tc was monitored and the clearance rate calculated. Whereas atropine lowered the resin particle transport rate, the saline method did not reveal any difference in clearance rate after injection of atropine. Since the former method measures the transport of particles in the gel phase (the outer mucous layer) and the latter measures the clearance of both gel and sol (periciliary fluid) layers, it is postulated that the slowing of mucociliary transport by atropine is due to alterations in the gel layer. © 1990 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.