Summary
A method for sampling cytological brushings of human nasal mucosa using phase-contrast microscopy is detailed and the modes for counting the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) are reviewed. To test the reproducibility of our method, we performed two sampling procedures on subsequent days on each of 19 volunteers and patients. The total volume of harvested cells, the number of beating ciliated cells, and the CBF were assessed. Since there are some differences present in subsequent cell samples, our findings indicate that it may be better to critically evaluate a single sampling procedure in order to establish a correct clinical diagnosis, especially if the number of harvested cells is small. The need to standardize methods for counting the CBF to achieve comparable results is stressed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baum GL, Roth Y, Teichtahl H, Aharonson E, Priel Z (1982) Ciliary beat frequency of respiratory mucosal cells: comparison of nasal and tracheal sampling sites. Am Rev Resp Dis 125 [Suppl 4]:244
Bryan WTK, Bryan MP, Smith CA (1964) Human ciliated epithelial cells in nasal secretions. Ann Otol 37:474–486
Carson JL, Collier AM, Shih-Chin SH (1985) Acquired ciliary defects in nasal epithelium of children with acute viral upper respiratory infections. N Engl J Med 312:463–468
Corssen G, Allen CR (1960) Cultured human respiratory epithelium: its use in the comparison of the cytotoxic properties of local anaesthetics. Anesthesiology 21:237–243
Donk HJ van den, Zuidema J, Merkus FWHM (1980) The influence of the pH and osmotic pressure upon tracheal ciliary beat frequency as determined with a new photoelectric registration device. Rhinology 18:93–104
Douglas RG, Alford BR, Couch RB (1968) Atraumatic nasal biopsy for studies of respiratory virus infection in volunteers. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 8:340–343
Duchateau GSMJE, Graamans K, Zuidema Z, Merkus FWHM (1985) Correlation between nasal ciliary beat frequency and mucus transport rate in volunteers. Laryngoscope 95:854–859
Escudier E, Bernaudin FJ, Bernaudin P, Reinert P, Canet C, Boncherat M, Peynegre R (1984) Étude stroboscopique de la frèquence des battements des cils de la muqueuse respiratoire. Ann Otolaryngol Chir Cervicofac 101:150–152
Forrest JB, Rossman CM, Newhouse MT, Ruffin R (1979) Activation of nasal cilia in immotile cilia syndrome. Am Rev Respir Dis 120:511–515
Greenstone M, Cooper P, Warner J, Cole PJ (1983) Effect of acute antigenic challenge on nasal ciliary beat frequency. Eur J Respir Dis 64 [Suppl 129]:449–450
Hilding AC (1930) The common cold. Arch Otolaryngol 12:133
Kennedy JR, Duckett KE (1981) The study of ciliary frequencies with an optical-spectrum analysis system. Exp Cell Res 135:147–156
Konietzko N, Nakhosteen JA, Mizera W, Kasparek R, Hesse H (1981) Ciliary beat frequency of biopsy samples taken from normal persons and patients with various lung diseases. Chest 80 [Suppl]:855–857
Lopez-Vidriero MT (1982) Objective criteria for measuring ciliary beat frequency in vitro. Am Rev Respir Dis 125 [Suppl 4]:244
Luk CK, Dulfano MJ (1982) Effect of pH, viscosity, and ionic strength on ciliary beating frequency of human bronchial expiants. Am Rev Respir Dis 125 [Suppl 4]:244
Mygind N, Pedersen M, Nielsen MH (1982) Morphology of the upper airway epithelium. In: Proctor DF, Andersen I (eds) The nose. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 71–94
Pedersen M, Sakakura Y, Winther B, Brofeldt S, Mygind N (1983) Nasal mucociliary transport, number of ciliated cells and beating pattern in naturally acquired common cold. Eur J Pespir Dis 64 [Suppl 128]:355–364
Rossman CM, Lee W, Forrest JB, Newhouse MT (1984) Nasal ciliary ultrastructure and function in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia compared with that in normal subjects and in subjects with various respiratory diseases. Am Rev Respir Dis 129:161–167
Roth Y, Ostfeld E (1984) Ciliary beat frequency of human middle ear mucosa measured in vitro. J Laryngol Otol 98:853–856
Rutland J, Cole PJ (1980) Non-invasive sampling of nasal cilia for measurement of beat frequency and study of ultra-structure. Lancet II:564
Rutland J, Griffin WM, Cole PJ (1982) Human ciliary beat frequency in epithelium from intrathoracic and extra-thoracic airways. Am Rev Respir Dis 125:100–105
Ukai K, Sakakura Y, Saida S (1985) Interaction between mucociliary transport and the ciliary beat of chicken nasal mucosa. Arch Otorhinolaryngol 242:225–231
Veermann AJP, Delden L van, Feenstra L, Leene W (1980) The immotile cilia syndrome: phase contrast light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Pediatrics 65:698–702
Verdugo P, Johnson NT, Tam PY (1980) β-Adrenergic stimulation of respiratory ciliary activity. J Appl Physiol 48:868–871
Yager J, Tzeng-Ming Chen, Dulfano MJ (1978) Measurement of frequency of ciliary beats of human respiratory epithelium. Chest 73:627–633
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Deitmer, T. A method for standardizing cytologic sampling for the estimation of nasal ciliary activity. Arch Otorhinolaryngol 243, 288–292 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00460203
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00460203