Human tracheal mucin: a preliminary study of physicochemical properties and mucociliary transport.

Human tracheal secretions were collected from patients with chronic tracheostomies in the intensive care unit and through an endotracheal tube from pediatric surgical patients under general anesthesia. These secretions were dialyzed, fractionated on an agarose column, and lyophilized to recover the tracheal mucin fraction. Analysis of pooled mucin samples included determination of amino acids, carbohydrates, and sulfates. Intrinsic viscosity, microrheometry, and mucociliary transport studies were also performed. Structural and functional differences between several pools of specimens are cited with an emphasis on possible clinical correlations.