Autonomic regulation of viscoelasticity of cat tracheal gland secretions.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether various adrenergic agonists selectively regulate the viscoelastic properties of the stimulated secretions from airway submucosal glands. Nanoliter quantities of cat tracheal secretions before and during each of three stimuli were collected directly from a single submucosal gland with a micropipette, and the viscoelastic properties of the secretions were determined using a newly developed capillary microrheometer. Under unstimulated conditions (control), the measured values of apparent viscosity and elasticity of the secretions were more reproducible than the values obtained in previous studies in which samples were collected by other methods. After muscarinic (acetylcholine), alpha-adrenergic (phenylephrine), or beta-adrenergic (isoproterenol) stimulation, the submucosal gland's secretory rate was, in each case, greater than control. The viscoelastic properties of the secretions induced by muscarinic stimulation, however, were identical to control, whereas alpha-adrenergic stimulation produced secretions of a lower apparent viscosity, and beta-adrenergic stimulation produced secretions of a higher apparent viscosity and lower elasticity than control. Thus autonomic agonists selectively regulate the viscoelastic properties of submucosal gland secretions from cat trachea.