Insight into Pulmonary Gas Trapping as an Index of Airway Responses in Small Laboratory Animals

The majority of methods for measuring airway mechanics or pulmonary function in small laboratory animals are labor intensive, require specialized equipment and training, and have a low throughput. Hence, there is a need for a more rapid, simpler, userfriendly approach for assessing airway responses in rodent models of human lung diseases. One such method is pulmonary gas trapping or the excised lung gas volume (ELGV) measurement [1,2], a wellrecognized technique for assessing airway mechanics in small laboratory animals [3]. Thus, a brief overview of the history of pulmonary gas trapping or hyperinflation will be discussed examining history of both qualitative and quantitative approaches and use in rodent models of human lung diseases.