Mucus compositions

Therefore, the unresolved question remains of whether chronic, recurring inflammation is the result of a persistent infection with a specific pathogen, an exaggerated exposure to resident normal luminal bacteria products because of increased intestinal permeability or alteration of mucus composition, or an abnormally aggressive immune response to luminal components. 

Handy, R. D. (1989). The ionic composition of rainbow trout body mucus, Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A., 93, 571-575. 

In industrialised societies, most gallbladder stones are mixed in composition. They contain not only cholesterol but also bile pigments, calcium salts, mucus glycoprotein and often amorphous material. Nonetheless, they are still described as cholesterol-rich although the arbitrary definition for cholesterol-rich stones varies from author to author ranging from >70% to >90% by weight. 

Cervical mucus is secreted by the endocervical glands and is regulated by estrogens and progestins. Under the influence of high levels of estrogen or progesterone, the physicochemical composition of cervical mucus may reduce sperm motility and provide a barrier to fertilization. 

In addition to its role in carbonate deposition, the mantle is also connected with other physiological activities such as secretion of mucus or the formation of the periostracum298 304. Certain regions of the outer mantle surface are allocated to various work assignments and differ in their ultrastructural composition. 

Major determinants of the efficiency of mucociliary clearance are cilia density, periciliary fluid, and composition of mucus. Some drugs and excipients, such as preservatives in drug formulations, may diminish the ciliary movement in the nasal cavity and trachea. A suggested adverse effect of ciliostasis (permanently or momentarily arrest or impairment of ciliary activity) is lower respiratory tract infection as a result of impaired nasal microbiological defense. 

It is currently unclear whether toxin-mediated prey capture by mobile invertebrates has a significant impact on prey population size or community composition. In freshwater systems, chemically mediated prey capture by flatworms has been demonstrated to significantly impact prey populations in the laboratory. Neurotoxic chemicals released from the mucus webs of the flatworm Mesostoma can drive entire populations of the cladoceran Daphnia magna to extinction in culture, but the concentration these chemicals normally attain under realistic field conditions is unknown. Nevertheless, because the mucus webs these flatworms build function to trap prey, Dumont and Carels163 likened these flatworms to spiders with toxic webs. Similar impacts may occur in open water marine systems where organisms that employ toxin-mediated prey capture are abundant, or even dominant, predators (e.g., chaetognaths and cnidarians). 

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