Adverse Effect of Oxygen on Tracheal Mucus Flow

Abstract

The effect of oxygen on tracheal mucus flow was measured in young cats by a particle-transport technic. Any deviation from ambient oxygen tension in the inspired air, high or low, had an adverse effect on mucus flow; 100 per cent oxygen produced marked impairment. Basal mucus flow was improved, and the adverse oxygen effects were prevented and reversed by epinephrine compounds and adenosine triphosphate. These results, which are interpreted in terms of inhibition of carbohydrate metabolism by oxygen and the positive effect of catecholamines on this function, suggest a subtle, but potentially dangerous, form of oxygen toxicity.