Low temperature decreased tension in isolated hypertrophic human nasal mucosa

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of low temperature on basal tension in isolated hypertrophic human nasal mucosa with or without α₁-agonist stimulation. Methods: A tissue bath for isolated nasal mucosa was used. Tension in strips of human turbinate mucosa that were untreated and treated with an α₁-adrenoreceptor agonist, methoxamine (10 μM), was recorded continuously in a stepwise manner in temperatures that varied from 37 to 10°C. Results: The changes of tension in the human nasal mucosa were found to be temperature-dependent in both untreated and treated tissues, with tension decreasing to 48.6% at 10°C in comparison with 100% at 37°C in the untreated group, the presence of methoxamine (10 μM) had minimal effect. Conclusion: Low temperature induced a rapid and reproducible relaxation in isolated hypertrophic human nasal mucosa that was not affected by the presence of the α₁-agonist methoxamine (10 μM).