Saccharin test and frog palate model: tools for studying mucociliary transport

Abstract

Disorders in mucociliary transport (MCT) can affect the clearance of respiratory secretions. MCT can be measured either in vivo, using substances such as saccharin, or in vitro, using frog palates. Objective: To review and analyse publications and results of MCT with references to the saccharin test and the frog palate model. Methods: Three reviewers examined articles published in journals indexed in Medline, Embase, CINAHL and SciELO. The following key words were used: (mucociliary or mucus) and [(transport or clearance) and (methods and saccharin test/frog palate)]. Results: We found a total of 186 articles, 146 of which were excluded for the following reasons: title not related to our objectives (90), availability of just the abstract (41), language (4), article unavailabilty (11), and incompatibility of the MTC tests with our objectives (20). Hence, 20 studies were included in this review. Conclusion: In clinical practice, the saccharin test was more feasible, offering low cost and good reproducibility, in addition to promoting easy and rapid analysis of MCT.