Liver X Receptor Agonists Increase Airway Reactivity in a Model of Asthma via Increasing Airway Smooth Muscle Growth

Increasing Airway Smooth Muscle Growth Reactivity in a Model of Asthma via Liver X Receptor Agonists Increase Airway

Airway smooth muscle and asthma.

The airway smooth muscle is the key determinant of airway narrowing in asthma but its function in the absence of disease is unknown. Evidence for an intrinsic abnormality in the muscle in asthma is only just emerging. The airway smooth muscle is not merely a contractile cell, but also one which determines the composition of, and interacts with the extracellular matrix, and which may participate...

Airway structural components drive airway smooth muscle remodeling in asthma.

Chronic asthma is an inflammatory airways disease characterized by pathological changes in the airway smooth muscle (ASM) bundle that contribute to airway obstruction and hyperresponsiveness. Remodeling of the ASM is associated with an increased smooth muscle mass, involving components of cellular hypertrophy and hyperplasia, and changes in the phenotype of the muscle that facilitate proliferat...

Airway smooth muscle chemokine receptor expression and function in asthma

BACKGROUND Chemokine receptors play an important role in cell migration and wound repair. In asthma, CCR3 and 7 are expressed by airway smooth muscle (ASM) and CCR7 has been implicated in the development of ASM hyperplasia. The expression profile of other chemokine receptors by ASM and their function needs to be further explored. OBJECTIVE We sought to investigate ASM chemokine receptor expre...

Airway Smooth Muscle Hypercontractility in Asthma

In recent years, asthma has been defined primarily as an inflammatory disorder with emphasis on inflammation being the principle underlying pathophysiological characteristic driving airway obstruction and remodelling. Morphological abnormalities of asthmatic airway smooth muscle (ASM), the primary structure responsible for airway obstruction seen in asthma, have long been described, but surpris...