Understanding how tissue remodeling affects airway responsiveness is of key importance, but experimental data bearing on this issue remain scant. We used lung explants to investigate the effects of enzymatic digestion on the rate and magnitude of airway narrowing induced by acetylcholine. To link the observed changes in narrowing dynamics to the degree of alteration in tissue mechanics, we comp...

The pathogenesis of late-onset TH2-low asthma in obesity is thought to be related to weight-related decreases in lung volume, but why only a subset of individuals with obesity develop this condition is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that natural variations in both airway wall stiffness and airway wall thickness could lead to a subpopulation of hyperresponsive individuals exhibiting the sympt...

The relevance of increased methacholine airway responsiveness detected in children with no current or past symptoms of asthma is not known. We wished to determine whether the presence of airway hyperresponsiveness in asymptomatic children is also associated with abnormal variability of peak expiratory flow (PEF). In 12 asymptomatic children with methacholine hyperresponsiveness, we examined the...

We previously demonstrated that airway responsiveness is greater in immature than in mature rabbits; however, it is not known whether there are maturational differences in the effect of transpulmonary pressure (Ptp) on airway size and airway responsiveness. The relationship between Ptp and airway diameter was assessed in excised lungs insufflated with tantalum powder. Diameters of comparable in...

Increases in bone-marrow (BM) inflammatory cell progenitors are associated with allergen-induced airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation in asthmatics and dogs. Here, for the first time, we compare the time course of airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation, and marrow progenitor responses in a mouse model of airway allergen challenge. Sensitized BALB/c mice were studied at 2, 12, 24, 48, a...

Influenza A infection may cause severe exacerbations of asthma with increased airway responsiveness and airflow obstruction (1). Annual vaccination against influenza is therefore recommended for patients with asthma by the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health. However, some patients report exacerbations of their asthma, apparently related to influenza vaccination, and there is relu...

Kim, Jenny H., Deepika Jain, Omar Tliba, Bei Yang, William F. Jester, Jr., Reynold A. Panettieri, Jr., Yassine Amrani, and Ellen Puré. TGFpotentiates airway smooth muscle responsiveness to bradykinin. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 289: L511–L520, 2005. First published May 27, 2005; doi:10.1152/ajplung.00027.2005.—The molecular mechanisms by which bradykinin induces excessive airway obstruc...