• Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg · Apr 2015

    Cytologic and functional alterations of nasal mucosa in smokers: temporary or permanent damage?

    • Giulio Pagliuca, Chiara Rosato, Salvatore Martellucci, Marco de Vincentiis, Antonio Greco, Massimo Fusconi, Armando De Virgilio, Camilla Gallipoli, Marilia Simonelli, and Andrea Gallo.
    • Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, ENT Section, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy giulio.pagliuca@libero.it.
    • Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2015 Apr 1;152(4):740-5.

    ObjectiveTobacco smoke is a significant risk factor for respiratory diseases. The purpose of this study is to analyze the cytologic and functional features of nasal mucosa in smokers, nonsmokers, and ex-smokers to evaluate if nasal alterations in smokers are permanent or reversible conditions after smoking cessation.Study DesignCase series with planned data collection.SettingUniversity medical center.Subjects And MethodsNinety healthy volunteers recruited from the staff of Alfredo Fiorini Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, were enrolled in this prospective study from October to November 2013. We divided the cases according to smoking habits (smokers, nonsmokers, ex-smokers). Each group was composed of 30 subjects. Cytologic features of nasal mucosa and effectiveness of nasal mucociliary clearance were studied, focusing on 4 parameters: (1) nasal mucociliary clearance, assessed by saccharin nasal transit time; (2) ratio between the number of ciliated cells and goblet cells, analyzed by microscopic observation of cytologic specimens of nasal mucosa that had undergone May Grunwald Giemsa staining; (3) evaluation of ciliary motility; and (4) time of ciliary movement of ciliated cells analyzed by phase-contrast microscopy.ResultsAll parameters were significantly reduced in the smokers compared to the nonsmokers. There were no statistically significant differences between the nonsmoker and ex-smoker groups.ConclusionCigarette smoking causes cytologic modifications of nasal mucosa that influence the effectiveness of mucociliary clearance. Our preliminary study suggests that these changes are not permanent and that nasal mucosa of ex-smokers recovers normal cytologic and functional features.© American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2015.

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