Nanoparticle diffusion in spontaneously expectorated sputum as a biophysical tool to probe disease severity in COPD.

ABSTRACT: Perturbations in airway mucus properties contribute to lung function decline in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). While alterations in bulk mucus rheology have been widely explored, microscopic mucus properties that directly impact on the dynamics of microorganisms and immune cells in the COPD lungs are yet to be investigated.We hypothesised that a tightened mesh structure of spontaneously expectorated mucus (i.e. sputum) would contribute to increased COPD disease severity. Here, we investigated whether the mesh size of COPD sputum, quantified by muco-inert nanoparticle (MIP) diffusion, correlated with sputum composition and lung function measurements.The microstructure of COPD sputum was assessed based on the mean squared displacement (MSD) of variously si

SUBMITTER: Chisholm JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8081045 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature