Dysfunctional Bronchial Cilia Are a Feature of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). COPD Impaired mucociliary clearance may increase COPD exacerbation risk. We aimed to compare bronchial ciliary function and epithelial ultrastructure of COPD patients to healthy controls and explore its relationship to exacerbator phenotypes (frequent [FE] and infrequent [IFE] exacerbator). In this cross-sectional study, 16 COPD patients and 12 controls underwent bronchial brushings. Ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and dyskinesia index (DI; % of dyskinetic cilia) were assessed using digital high-speed video microscopy, and epithelial ultrastructure using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Bronchial epithelium in COPD showed lower CBF and higher DI, compared to controls (median [IQR] CBF: 6.8 (6.1-7.2) Hz vs 8.5 (7.7-8.9) Hz, <0.001 and DI: 73.8 (60.7-89.8) % vs 14.5 (11.2-16.9) %, <0.001, respectively). This was true for FE and IFE phenotypes of COPD, which were similar in terms of bronchial CBF or DI. Subgroup analyses demonstrated lower CBF and higher DI in FE and IFE COPD phenotypes compared to controls, irrespective of smoking status. TEM showed more loss of cilia, extrusion of cells, cytoplasmic blebs and dead cells in COPD patients versus controls. Profound dysfunction of bronchial cilia is a feature of COPD irrespective of exacerbation phenotype and smoking status, which is likely to contribute to poor mucus clearance in COPD.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15412555.2021.1963695 . 10.1080/15412555.2021.1963695

Impaired Ciliary Beat Frequency and Ciliogenesis Alteration during Airway Epithelial Cell Differentiation in COPD. Ancel Julien,Belgacemi Randa,Diabasana Zania,Perotin Jeanne-Marie,Bonnomet Arnaud,Dewolf Maxime,Launois Claire,Mulette Pauline,Deslée Gaëtan,Polette Myriam,Dormoy Valérian Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a frequent respiratory disease. However, its pathophysiology remains partially elucidated. Epithelial remodeling including alteration of the cilium is a major hallmark of COPD, but specific assessments of the cilium have been rarely investigated as a diagnostic tool in COPD. Here we explore the dysregulation of the ciliary function (ciliary beat frequency (CBF)) and differentiation (multiciliated cells formation in air-liquid interface cultures) of bronchial epithelial cells from COPD ( = 17) and non-COPD patients ( = 15). CBF was decreased by 30% in COPD (11.15 +/- 3.37 Hz vs. 7.89 +/- 3.39 Hz, = 0.037). Ciliary differentiation was altered during airway epithelial cell differentiation from COPD patients. While the number of multiciliated cells decreased ( < 0.005), the number of primary ciliated cells increased ( < 0.05) and primary cilia were shorter ( < 0.05). Altogether, we demonstrate that COPD can be considered as a ciliopathy through both primary non-motile cilia modifications (related to airway epithelial cell repair and remodeling) and motile cilia function impairment (associated with decrease sputum clearance and clinical respiratory symptoms). These observations encourage considering cilia-associated features in the complex COPD physiopathology and highlight the potential of cilia-derived biomarkers for diagnosis. 10.3390/diagnostics11091579