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Mucin and lysozyme are the components of mucus and can be used as markers for mucus secretion from the mucus and serous glands of the airway. The purposes of this study were to develop an in vitro method to evaluate the regulation of mucus secretion in nasal cavity and to investigate the effect of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and nitric oxide (NO) on mucus secretion in the human nasal mucosa. Inferior turbinate mucosa samples were obtained from patients who had septal deviation and turbinate hypertropy. To measure the mucin and lysozyme secretion from turbinate, we used a sandwiched enzyme-linked lectin assay (ELLA) and a turbidimetric assay, respectively. To inquire whether or not lectin binds specifically to goblet cells and submucosal glands in the turbinate mucosa, we used the lectin immunohistochemcal stain. There was rapid incresement of mucin secretion during the first 1 hour and then steady secretion of mucin in the kinetic study over 3 hours. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), a kind of lectin, was not blood group specific and specifically bound to goblet cells and submucosal glands. 10(-6) and 10(-5) M VIP significantly stimulated mucin secretion compared with the unstimulated control group. Neither N-nitroarginine methyl ester, an inhibitor of NO synthase, nor S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine, an NO donor, had a significant effect on constitutive or VIP-induced mucus secretion. We concluded that VIP stimulates mucus secretion in the inferior turbinate and the turbinate explant model including ELLA used to measure mucin can be used as a method to evaluate the regulation of mucus secretion in the nasal cavity.
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