Mucociliary clearance and regular exercise: Responses of the nasal mucociliary transport of subjects with COPD

Introduction: It is known that physical exercise (PE) can provide many benefits to individuals with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). However, few studies investigate the effects of PE on nasal mucociliary transport (NMT) in this patients. Aim: To evaluate the NMT of patients with COPD who performed regular exercise. Methods: 33 subjects participated in the study and were divided into 3 groups: COPD exercise (n=11, 68±3 years old; 26±2 kg/m 2 ); COPD sedentary (n=12; 72±2 years old; 25±2 kg/m 2 ); and control group (n=10; 50±2 years old; 29±1 kg/m 2 ). The assessment of nasal mucocilar clearance was evaluated by saccharin transit time (STT) at two periods: baseline (M0) and after two months of regular exercise (M1). Results: The COPD exercise group presented a significant improvement in NMT after 2 months of PE (8±3,7 min) compared to COPD sedentary group (17,68±7,46 min), p=0.0001. Furthermore, COPD sedentary group in M1 presented a significant worsening of NMT (17,68 ± 7,46 min) compared to crontol group (8,1±2,92 min), p=0.0001. The COPD exercise group showed significant improvement in NMT after two months of PE, p=0.0291. Conclusion: Regular exercise promoted an significant increase in nasal mucociliary clearance in individuals with COPD, improving their transportability after two months of intervention.