Mechanical forces are increasingly recognized to regulate morphogenesis, but how this is accomplished in the context of the multiple tissue types present within a developing organ remains unclear. Here, we use bioengineered 'microfluidic chest cavities' to precisely control the mechanical environment of the fetal lung. We show that transmural pressure controls airway branching morphogenesis, th...

BACKGROUND The human airway is believed to be acidified in asthma. In an acidic environment nitrite is converted to nitric oxide (NO). OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that buffering airway lining fluid acid would decrease the fraction of exhaled NO (F(ENO)). METHODS We treated 28 adult nonsmoking subjects (9 healthy control subjects, 11 subjects with mild intermittent asthma, and 8 subjects with ...

INTRODUCTION The production of antimicrobial peptides by airway epithelial cells is an important component of the innate immune response to pulmonary infection and inflammation. Hepcidin is a β-defensin-like antimicrobial peptide and acts as a principal iron regulatory hormone. Hepcidin is mostly produced by hepatocytes, but is also expressed by other cells, such as airway epithelial cells. How...

We characterized the passive structural and active neuromuscular control of pharyngeal collapsibility in mice and hypothesized that pharyngeal collapsibility, which is elevated by anatomic loads, is reduced by active neuromuscular responses to airflow obstruction. To address this hypothesis, we examined the dynamic control of upper airway function in the isolated upper airway of anesthetized C5...

Airway wall remodeling in response to inflammation might alter load on airway smooth muscle and/or change airway wall stability. We therefore determined airway wall compliance and closing pressures in an animal model. Weanling pigs were sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA; ip and sc, n = 6) and were subsequently challenged three times with OVA aerosol. Control pigs received 0.9% NaCl (n = 4) in place ...

Asthma is characterized by inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness, which results in episodic airflow obstruction. It is diagnosed once a compatible clinical history plus objective evidence of diurnal variability in peak expiratory flow or significant reversibility to inhaled bronchodilator is documented. In accordance with current guidelines, measures of airway calibre and symptoms allow p...

BACKGROUND Advanced airway management is composed of a set of vital yet potentially difficult skills for the prehospital provider, with widely different clinical guidelines. In the military setting, there are few data available to inform guideline development. We reevaluated our advanced airway protocol in light of our registry data to determine if there were a preferred maximum number of endot...

BACKGROUND Closed endotracheal suctioning during mechanical ventilation is increasingly used, but its impact on ventilator function has not been fully studied. METHODS We evaluated the impact of closed suctioning with 11 critical-care ventilators, during assisted ventilation in pressure-support mode, pressure-assist/control mode, volume-assist/control mode, and during continuous positive airw...

This study aims to explore how microRNA-145 (miR-145) affects airway remodeling and cytokine expression by targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to regulate mucin 5AC (MUC5AC).Mice alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) were divided into a control, blank, miR-145 mimics, mimic control, miR-145 inhibitors, inhibitor control, si-EGFR and miR-145 inhibitors + si-EGFR group. Asthma mice model...