Ciliary function in Young's syndrome

Abstract

The association of recurrent sinopulmonary infection and azoospermia (Young's syndrome) was first described in 1970 but excited little interest until recently. The coexistence of male infertility, recurrent respiratory infection, and impaired mucociliary clearance is reminiscent of primary ciliary dyskinesia; but in the latter condition sperm counts are usually normal while motility is diminished. Three recent reports commented on the similarity between Young's syndrome and primary ciliary dyskinesia, but on the basis of limited studies of ciliary ultrastructure tentatively concluded that Young's syndrome was unlikely to be caused by a ciliary abnormality. This study reports a quantitative assessment of upper airway mucociliary clearance and ciliary ultrastructure in Young's syndrome. Because normal ciliary ultrastructure does not exclude the possibility of a functional defect, ciliary motility was also studied.