COMPOSITION OF TRACHEOBRONCHIAL SECRETIONS IN CYSTIC FIBROSIS OF THE PANCREAS AND BRONCHIECTASIS

Abstract

Tracheobronchial secretions obtained by bronchoscopic aspiration from patients with cystic fibrosis and patients with chronic bronchiectasis were analyzed for the major organic and inorganic constituents. The tracheobronchial secretions from patients with cystic fibrosis contained, on a weight basis, at least twice the quantity of organic material found in bronchiectatic secretions. Analysis of the secretions for nitrogen, carbohydrate, hexosamine and lipids indicated that, on a dry weight basis, similar quantities of these organic constituents are found in the two types of secretions. The only organic component which was found to be consistently different was desoxyribonucleic acid; a higher content was found in cystic fibrosis secretion. Analysis of the inorganic constituents revealed a higher content of sodium and potassium in the bronchiectatic secretion when calculated both on the basis of wet and dry weight, whereas phosphorus was found to be higher in the cystic fibrosis secretion. The calcium content in the total cystic fibrosis secretion was found to be twice that in the bronchiectatic material; however, when calculated on the basis of dry weight, both types of secretion contained similar amounts of calcium. The influence of ionic composition of the surrounding media on high molecular weight polymers is discussed and the postulation made that an alteration in the ionic concentration may be responsible for the peculiar characteristics observed in the tracheobronchial secretions of patients with cystic fibrosis.