Human coronavirus (HCoV) accounts for 15-30% of common colds, but only one case report has described the effect of a coronavirus infection, that was asymptomatic, on human respiratory epithelium. The authors examined the effects of infection with HCoV on ciliary structure and function in healthy volunteers infected by intranasal inoculation with HCoV 229E. A further four volunteers were sham in...

Background Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an inherited disorder where dyskinetic cilia cause impaired mucociliary clearance (MC) of upper and lower airways. Airway movement can be indirectly tested in vivo after administration a radiolabeled tracer to the airways for assessment pulmonary MC or nose assessing Nasal (NMC). With this study we aimed investigate NMC as quantifiable outcome para...

P rimary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD; Immotile cilia syndrome; OMIM 242650) is an autosomal recessive disorder resulting from dysmotility of cilia and sperm flagella. Cilia and flagella function either to create circulation of fluid over a stationary cell surface or to propel a cell through fluid. 3 These related structures are highly complex organelles composed of over 200 different polypeptides. ...

The observation of an inter-attico-tympanic diaphragm in the middle ear (ME) cleft and the functional histology of the mucosa lead to a concept of ME morpho-functional partition. There are two separate compartments: an antero-inferior one, principally devoted to the muco-ciliary clearance function, and a postero-superior one, more devoted to the gas exchange function. With this concept of parti...

The saccharin test was carried out in a randomly selected sample of schoolchildren (142 boys and 153 girls, age range 11-14 years) to determine the variability and reproducibility of the test and to assess whether it could be used as a screening test for nasal mucociliary clearance. Nasal mucociliary clearance times were analysed according to clinical history (asthma, rhinitis, asthma with rhin...

Airway epithelial cilia protect the mammalian respiratory system from harmful inhaled materials by providing the force necessary for effective mucociliary clearance. Ciliary beating is asymmetric, composed of clearly distinguished effective and recovery strokes. Neither the importance of nor the essential components responsible for the beating asymmetry has been directly elucidated. We report h...

Motile cilia mediate the flow of mucus and other fluids across the surface of specialized epithelia in metazoans. Efficient clearance of peri-ciliary fluids depends on the precise coordination of ciliary beating to produce metachronal waves. The role of individual dynein motors and the mechanical feedback mechanisms required for this process are not well understood. Here we used the ciliated ep...