A difference in the composition of bronchial mucus between smokers and non-smokers.
The ratio of the amount of sulphated to sialic acid mucin (Su/Si) in the mucous glands of the human tracheobronchial tree has been investigated in seven smokers and seven non-smokers. The two mucins were studied in histological sections stained by the high iron diamine/Alcian blue pH 2-5 sequence and assessed by a point-counting method. Su/Si was greater in the smokers than in the non-smokers, who were almost completely distinguished by this ratio. A decrease in the ratio with each generation of branching from the trachea down the inferior lingular bronchial segmental pathway was seen in both the smoking and non-smoking groups. Analysis of the logarithm of Su/Si showed the smoking group means to be 2-3 times that of the non-smokers at each generation, and over both groups the average decrease down successive generations was given by a factor of 0-9.
D000368:Aged; D001980:Bronchi / Q000032:analysis*; D005088:Exocrine Glands / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009077:Mucins / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D009093:Mucus / Q000032:analysis*; D012794:Sialic Acids / Q000032:analysis; D012907:Smoking; D013431:Sulfates / Q000032:analysis
D009077:Mucins; D012794:Sialic Acids; D013431:Sulfates