Morphologic and motility changes of nasal cilia in primary culture caused by Haemophilus influenzae

We focused on the pathogenicity of otitis media with effusion (OME) with respect to the susceptibility of the upper respiratory tract mucosa to Haemophilus influenzae. Human nasal polyps in outgrowth culture were used to study H influenzae disturbance of the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and the morphology of cilia. The CBF of control primary culture was 11.7 ± 2.7 Hz. The CBF slowed down significantly, to 8.5 ± 5.7 Hz, after incubation with the filtrate of 10⁸ CFU/mL of H influenzae, and to 4.1 ± 4.1 Hz with a suspension of 10⁸ CFU/mL of H influenzae (p < .05). In the morphologic study, we classified the shapes of the cilia into five types: normal cilia, immotile cilia, swollen cilia, clumped cilia, and exfoliated ciliated cells. The abnormal shapes of cilia increased after incubation with the suspension or the filtrate of H influenzae. By scanning electron microscopy, we saw that aggregated bacteria tended to associate with cilia. Thus, the findings suggest that H influenzae disturbs the ciliary clearance of nasal cells and makes them more susceptible to infections.