Impairment of airway mucociliary transport in patients with sinobronchial syndrome: Role of nitric oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) produced within the respiratory tract can stimulate cilia ry motility of airway epithelial cells and hence mucociliary transport. In this study, to determine the role of NO in mucociliary dysfunction in sinob ronchial syndrome (SBS), we measured NO concentrations in the exhaled air b y chemiluminescence analyzer and nasal clearance time (NCT) by saccharin te st. Exhaled NO concentrations in patients with SBS were 39% of those in hea lthy nonsmokers and 55% of those in healthy smokers. The patients also show ed prolonged NCT compared with healthy subjects, and there was a significan t negative correlation between exhaled NO concentrations and NCT. Furthermo re, concentrations of chloride (Cl) in the sputum supernatant were higher i n SBS patients than in healthy subjects, and there was a significant negati ve correlation between sputum Cl concentrations and exhaled NO concentratio ns. These results suggest that airway mucociliary clearance is impaired in patients with SBS and that this impairment might result from the reduced pr oduction of NO and the impaired availability of the molecule in the mucocil iary apparatus.