Abstract
Mucociliary transport system in elderly people (over 70 years old) was evaluated with the saccharin transport test and the technique of glycobiology. A median clearance time of the saccharin transport test of 32 elderly people was 17.9 min with a range of 8 to 55 minutes. Siaic acids of nasal mucin in the nasal mucosa obtained from 3 subjects of elderly people were investigated with lectin histochemistry. Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA), which recognizes sialic acids, strongly stained glandular mucous cells. Furthermore, expression of mRNA of sialyl-transferase in the nasal glands were detected in the cytoplasm of the nasal glandular mucous cells of elderly people's subjects, using in situ hybridization histochemistry. Glycobiological studies indicated normal functioning of nasal secretory glands of elderly people. These results suggested that normal mucociliary transport system is well maintained in elderly people.
