RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To characterise and compare the in vitro transport properties of respiratory mucoid secretion in individuals with no lung disease and in stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchiectasis. METHODOLOGY: Samples of mucus were collected, from 21 volunteers presenting no lung disease who had undergone surgery, from 10 patients presenting chronic COPD, and from 16 patients with bronchiectasis. Mucociliary transport (MCT), transport by cough (SCM), and contact angle (CAM) were evaluated. RESULTS: MCT was found to be greater in healthy individuals (1.0±0.19) than in COPD (0.91±0.17) and bronchiectasis (0.76±0.23) patients (p<0.05), whereas SCM was greater in COPD patients (16.31±7.35 cm) than in patients with bronchiectasis (12.16±6.64 cm) and healthy individuals (10.50±25.8 cm) (p<0.05). No significant differences were observed between the groups regarding CAM. CONCLUSION: Mucus from healthy individuals allows better mucociliary transport compared to that from patients with lung diseases. However, the mucus from COPD patients allows a better transport by coughing, demonstrating that these individuals have adapted to a defence mechanism compared to patients with bronchiectasis, who have impairment in their ciliary and cough transport mechanisms.