Hydrating the respiratory tract: An alternative explanation why masks lower severity of COVID-19.
Hydrating the respiratory tract: An alternative explanation why masks lower severity of COVID-19.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.bpj.2021.02.002
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发表时间：
2021-03-16
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Bax A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Courtney JM;Bax A
除其他因素外，呼吸道疾病的季节性与室外绝对湿度低和室内相对湿度低有关，这会增加呼吸道粘膜衬里中水分的蒸发。我们证明，正常的呼吸会在口罩内产生一个吸收-解吸循环，在这个循环中，过饱和的空气在呼气时被面罩纤维吸收，然后在吸入干燥的环境空气时蒸发。对于具有相当热容量的双层棉口罩，吸入空气的温度上升到室温以上，相对湿度的有效增加可以超过100%。我们认为，最近报道的普通口罩的减病作用是由吸入空气的强烈湿度增加所主导的。在上呼吸道感染发生之前和之后，这种升高的湿度都会促进病原体从肺部的粘液纤毛清除。有效的粘液纤毛清除可以延缓和减少下呼吸道感染，从而减轻疾病的严重程度。这种行为模式表明，即使在上呼吸道感染发生后，口罩也可以使佩戴者受益，这是对口罩限制疾病人际传播的传统功能的补充。这一潜在的治疗用途应该进一步研究。
The seasonality of respiratory diseases has been linked, among other factors, to low outdoor absolute humidity and low indoor relative humidity, which increase evaporation of water in the mucosal lining of the respiratory tract. We demonstrate that normal breathing results in an absorption-desorption cycle inside facemasks, in which supersaturated air is absorbed by the mask fibers during expiration, followed by evaporation during inspiration of dry environmental air. For double-layered cotton masks, which have considerable heat capacity, the temperature of inspired air rises above room temperature, and the effective increase in relative humidity can exceed 100%. We propose that the recently reported, disease-attenuating effect of generic facemasks is dominated by the strong humidity increase of inspired air. This elevated humidity promotes mucociliary clearance of pathogens from the lungs, both before and after an infection of the upper respiratory tract has occurred. Effective mucociliary clearance can delay and reduce infection of the lower respiratory tract, thus mitigating disease severity. This mode of action suggests that masks can benefit the wearer even after an infection in the upper respiratory tract has occurred, complementing the traditional function of masks to limit person-to-person disease transmission. This potential therapeutical use should be studied further.
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1902840116
发表时间：
2019-05-28
影响因子：
11.1
作者：
Kudo, Eriko;Song, Eric;Iwasaki, Akiko
通讯作者：
Iwasaki, Akiko
影响因子：
9.6
作者：
Beuther, David A.;Martin, Richard J.
通讯作者：
Martin, Richard J.
DOI：
10.1073/pnas.0408159101
发表时间：
2004-12-14
影响因子：
11.1
作者：
Edwards, DA;Man, JC;Scheuch, G
通讯作者：
Scheuch, G
DOI：
10.1056/nejmp2026913
发表时间：
2020-10-29
期刊：
The New England journal of medicine
影响因子：
--
作者：
Gandhi M;Rutherford GW
通讯作者：
Rutherford GW
影响因子：
5.2
作者：
Audi A;AlIbrahim M;Kaddoura M;Hijazi G;Yassine HM;Zaraket H
通讯作者：
Zaraket H