HUMAN CILIARY BEAT FREQUENCY IN EPITHELIUM FROM INTRA-THORACIC AND EXTRATHORACIC AIRWAYS

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Abstract
Respiratory tract ciliary beat frequency (CBF) was studied to investigate the relation between nasal and tracheal CBF and the possible existence of a gradient of ciliary activity in the human tracheobronchial tree. CBF was measured photometrically in nasal, tracheal and lower lobe bronchial brushings obtained at bronchoscopy in 25 patients and in nasal, tracheal and subsegmental airway brushings in a further 12 patients. Mean (.+-. 1 SD) beat frequencies for nasal, tracheal, lower lobe bronchial and subsegmental samples were 14.0 .+-. 1.5, 14.2 .+-. 1.3, 14.3 .+-. 1.5 and 10.3 .+-. 1.0 beats/s, respectively. Nasal, tracheal and lower lobe bronchial beat frequencies were not significantly different (P > 0.05) but subsegmental airway CBF was slower than each of the others (P < 0.001); there was a positive correlation between nasal and tracheal CBF (r = 0.71). CBF is slower in human peripheral airways but nasal and tracheal rates are similar.