To determine whether mycoplasma infection produces airway hyper-responsiveness to tachykinins and bradykinin and, if so, to elucidate the role of neutral endopeptidase (NEP), isolated hamster tracheal segments were studied under isometric conditions in vitro. Nasal inoculation with Mycoplasma pneumoniae potentiated contractile responses to neurokinin A and bradykinin, causing a leftward shift o...

The cellular and molecular mechanisms that are involved in airway hyper-responsiveness are unclear. Current studies suggest that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, a cytokine that is produced in considerable quantities in asthmatic airways, may potentially be involved in the development of bronchial hyper-responsiveness by directly altering the contractile properties of the airway smooth muscle...

In steroid-naive asthmatics, airway hyperresponsiveness correlates with noninvasive markers of airway inflammation. Whether this is also true in steroid-treated asthmatics, is unknown. In 31 stable asthmatics (mean age 45.4 yrs, range 22-69; 17 females) taking a median dose of 1,000 microg inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) per day (range 100-3,600 microg x day(-1)), airway responsiveness to the "di...

Airways hyper-responsiveness (AHR) is found in almost every patient with asthma. The degree of AHR is variable between individuals with asthma and can correlate to the severity of the underlying asthma. Equally treatment of asthma can modify the degree of underlying AHR. Measures of Airway hyper-responsiveness or bronchial challenge testing are therefore important in both the assessment and man...

BACKGROUND In guinea pigs, we have previously demonstrated that the contribution of Rho-kinase to airway responsiveness in vivo and ex vivo is enhanced after active sensitization with ovalbumin (OA). Using conscious, unrestrained OA-sensitized guina pigs, we now investigated the role of Rho-kinase in the development of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) after the allergen-induced early (EAR) and ...

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways which is characterized by recurrent episodes of airway obstruction, associated with airway hyper responsiveness that leads to symptoms of dyspnea, wheezing, chest tightness, and/or coughing. Omega shaped epiglottis is a type of laryngomalacia which is a result of curling on itself of the epiglottis because of shortened aryepiglottic folds.

Asthma is a multifactorial, chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. The knowledge that asthma is an inflammatory disorder has become a core fundamental in the definition of asthma. Asthma's chief features include a variable degree of air-flow obstruction and bronchial hyper-responsiveness, in addition to the underlying chronic airways inflammation. This underlying chronic airway inflammat...