Rhythmological features of the nasal mucociliary system functioning in healthy children and children with bronchial asthma

Abstract

Introduction. The circadian rhythms of the nasociliary system of children with bronchial asthma have not been practically studied.Objective. To evaluate seasonal variations of circa-annual rhythms of the nasociliary system in healthy children and children with year-round bronchial asthma.Materials and methods. 134 children were examined; the main group consisted of 99 children aged 1.5–7 years with mild and moderate bronchial asthma, the control group was represented by 45 healthy children of the same age. The biorhythms of the nasociliary system were studied for three years, 4 times during each year (in October, January, April, July): smears-prints from the nasal mucosa were studied with the calculation of the specific gravity of neutrophils, eosinophils, cylindrical and squamous epithelium as a percentage, the calculation of the cytolysis index of cells and the average destruction index for each type of cell. To study the near-seasonal rhythms, the KOSINOR program and the computer system of intra-laboratory control “VlCC” were used.Results. The presence of seasonal changes in cytological parameters of the nasal mucosa with the maximum values of the average values of the average destruction of the flat, cylindrical epithelium, neutrophils in January and acrophases in January was revealed. If eosinophils on the nasal mucosa were not detected in healthy children, then the presence of this type of cells was noted in children with asthma throughout the year. The period of fluctuations of the average destruction index in the flat epithelium (1.7 months) was 4 times shorter, and in the cylindrical epithelium (21.6 months) – 3.5 times longer in children with asthma compared with healthy children. The periods, amplitude and mesor of the average neutrophil destruction index in children with asthma and healthy peers did not differ significantly. Acrophases and bathyphases of the average index of destruction of the flat, cylindrical epithelium, neutrophils in patients with asthma and healthy children were recorded at different times.Conclusions. The study showed that in children with AD there are no patterns of rhythmological organization in the work of the nasociliary system, characteristic of healthy children.