Intranasal salbutamol has no effect on mucociliary clearance in normal subjects

Normal mucociliary clearance is essential for the healthy function of the upper and lower airways. Restoring normal clearance times in the presence of chronic disease would be a helpful adjunct in treating these patients. This double-blind placebo-controlled trial in 37 normal subjects compared topical salbutamol against placebo on nasal mucociliary clearance. Clearance rates were measured using the sacharine clearance technique and 34 patients completed the study. There was no effect of treatment, sex, order of treatment or period (interval between treatments) on mucociliary times. There was a weak positive correlation with age and there was a trend towards increased clearance times with salbutamol although this did not reach significance (P = 0.226). The results show that topical salbutamol appears to have no effect on nasal mucociliary clearance times in vivo in normal subjects.