Ultrastructural and Functional Studies of Cilia from Patients with Asthma, Aspirin Intolerance, and Nasal Polyps

“Triad” asthmatics often have sinus disease, nasal polyps, and obstructive airways disease. This presentation is reminiscent of the symptoms of persons afflicted with various forms of ciliary dyskinesia. Therefore, we examined tissues from seven “triad” asthmatic patients for ciliary structural or functional abnormalities. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy revealed no specific abnormalities. Cultures of nasal epithelia were maintained for up to 20 weeks. They showed normal ciliary activity which was not influenced by perfusing the tissue with medium containing aspirin. In contrast, control tissue from a patient with situs inversus and sinusitis showed the expected structural and functional ciliary abnormalities. In culture, the ciliary function of tissue from this patient could be partly restored by perfusion with ATP or ATPase.