Abstract
Pulmonary mucociliary clearance is an essential defense mechanism against bacteria and particulate matter. Mucociliary dysfunction is an important feature of obstructive lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, cystic fibrosis, and bronchiectasis. This dysfunction in airway clearance is associated with accelerated loss of lung function in patients with obstructive lung disease. The involvement of the cholinergic and adrenergic neural pathways in the pathophysiology of mucus hypersecretion suggests the potential therapeutic role of bronchodilators as mucoactive agents. Although anticholinergics and adrenergic agonist bronchodilators have been routinely used, alone or in combination, to enhance mucociliary clearance in patients with obstructive lung disease, the existing evidence does not consistently show clinical effectiveness.
- anticholinergic
- adrenergic
- airway clearance
- bronchodilator
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- mucociliary clearance
- mucus
- sputum
- obstructive lung disease
Footnotes
- Correspondence: Ruben D Restrepo MD RRT, Department of Respiratory Care, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, Mail Code 6248, San Antonio TX 78229–3900. E-mail: restrepor{at}uthscsa.edu.edu.
The author reports no conflicts of interest related to the content of this paper.
Dr Restrepo presented a version of this paper at the 39th Respiratory Care Journal Conference, “Airway Clearance: Physiology, Pharmacology, Techniques, and Practice,” held April 21–23, 2007, in Cancún, Mexico.
- Copyright © 2007 by Daedalus Enterprises Inc.
