Effect of aging on tracheal mucociliary clearance in beagle dogs.

Tracheal mucous velocity measurements were made in 24 beagle dogs in five age groups, using a gamma camera to detect movement of instilled 99mTc-macroaggregated albumin. Age groups were defined as immature (9-10 mo), young adult (2.8-3.0 yr), middle aged (6.7-6.9 yr), mature (9.6-9.8 yr), and aged dogs (13.6-16.2 yr). Mean velocities were 3.6 +/- 0.4 (SE) mm/min in the immature dogs, 9.7 +/- 0.6 mm/min in the young adults, 6.9 +/- 0.5 mm/min in the middle-aged dogs, 3.5 +/- 0.8 mm/min in the mature dogs, and 2.9 +/- 0.5 mm/min in the aged dogs. Tracheal mucous velocity was significantly (P less than 0.05) greater in the young adult and middle-aged groups compared with the immature, mature, and aged dogs. This pattern of age-related changes was noted to be similar to age-related changes described for certain pulmonary function measurements.