Fig. 9

Quinine stimulates the particle transport speed (PTS) in human tracheal epithelium. (a) The bitter substance quinine (100 µM) transiently increased PTS (n = 7 tracheal pieces of 5 body donors). (b) In the presence of the cholinergic receptor antagonists mecamylamine (100 µM) and atropine (50 µM), quinine did not alter PTS (n = 7 tracheal pieces of 5 body donors). (c) In the presence of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-Name (20 µM), quinine had no effect on PTS (n = 9 tracheal pieces of 6 body donors). (a-c) The viability control ATP (100 µM) led to a significant increase in PTS. *: p < 0.05, **: p < 0.01, ns: non-significant