Airway smooth muscle contraction is the central event in acute airway narrowing in asthma. Most studies of isolated muscle have focused on statically equilibrated contractile states that arise from isometric or isotonic contractions. It has recently been established, however, that muscle length is determined by a dynamically equilibrated state of the muscle in which small tidal stretches associ...

BACKGROUND The importance of airway inflammation has been highlighted in the pathophysiology of asthma. Even in controlled asthmatics treated with inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), residual airway inflammation is reported. Systemic therapy with oral leukotriene receptor antagonist, pranlukast, may have additive effects to improve asthma control. METHODS Twenty-five controlled asthmatics treated w...

Although both asthmatics and allergic rhinitics develop an acute inflammatory response to lower airway allergen challenge, only asthmatics experience airway obstruction resulting from chronic environmental allergen exposure. Hypothesizing that asthmatic airways have an altered response to chronic allergic inflammation, we compared the effects of repeated low-level exposures to inhaled Alternari...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) has been linked to chronic asthma. Airway remodeling (e.g., airway collagen deposition or fibrosis) is one of the pathological features of chronic asthma. However, the effects of respiratory Mp infection on airway fibrosis in asthma remain unclear. In the present study, we hypothesized that respiratory Mp infection may increase the airway collagen deposition in a muri...

Deficits of airway protection can have deleterious effects to health and quality of life. Effective airway protection requires a continuum of behaviors including swallowing and cough. Swallowing prevents material from entering the airway and coughing ejects endogenous material from the airway. There is significant overlap between the control mechanisms for swallowing and cough. In this review w...

The contractility of airway smooth muscle cells is dependent on dynamic changes in the concentration of intracellular calcium. Signaling molecules such as inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and cyclic ADP-ribose play pivotal roles in the control of intracellular calcium concentration. Alterations in the processes involved in the regulation of intracellular calcium concentration contribute to the path...

A number of important mechanisms have been identified by which viruses can provoke asthma. From the data available, there does not appear to be one single mechanism available to explain virus-induced asthma. The relationship between viral URIs and asthma is complex and involves many organ systems: airway epithelium, autonomic nervous system control, and the immediate hypersensitivity system. Id...

Local airway water loss is the main physiological trigger for exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB). Our aim was to investigate the effects of whole body water loss on airway responsiveness and pulmonary function in athletes with mild asthma and/or EIB. Ten recreational athletes with a medical diagnosis of mild asthma and/or EIB completed a randomized, crossover study. Pulmonary function t...

1. In 10 patients with pulmonary fibrosis and in seven control subjects, we measured the pressure at the mouth 0 . 1 s after onset of an inspiration against occluded airway (P 0 . 1), minute ventilation (VI), breathing frequency (fr), tidal volume (VT), inspiratory duration (Ti) and calculated the mean inspiratory flow (VT/Ti) and the fraction of the breath cycle devoted to inspiration (Ti/T to...

OBJECTIVE Control of airway inflammation is the cornerstone of asthma management. The aim of the present pilot study was to assess the effects of a leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA) added to a basic treatment of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) on airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation, and quality of life in well-controlled patients with asthma. RESEAR...