Possible mechanisms of reduction of nasal mucociliary clearance in chronic sinusitis

Nasal mucus was collected from 38 patients with chronic sinusitis. Following this collection, nasal mucociliary clearance (ST) was measured by the saccharin granule technique. Nasal mucus was used for in vitro frog palate clearance studies and then compared with the in vivo ST. The mucociliary transport rate of nasal mucus on mucus-depleted frog palate (MTR on frog palate) was 5.93 +/- 1.04 mm/min in the patients whose ST was within normal range (group A), and was 5.54 +/- 1.94 mm/min in the patients whose ST was above the normal range (group B). Significant differences were not observed in MTR on frog palate between groups A and B and no significant correlation was noted between ST and MTR. These results suggest that factors other than the rheological properties of nasal mucus control nasal mucociliary clearance in patients with chronic sinusitis.