Airway nerves: detection and visualisation

Goldie, Roy G.; Fernandes, Lynette; Rigby, Paul

doi:10.1016/s1471-4892(02)00157-1

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 22 publications

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“…Few studies have used a whole-mount technique necessary for full morphologic description of human bronchopulmonary nerves, even fewer in whole-mount endobronchial biopsies (16,17). Studies conducted to date are limited by the extent of innervation observed and antibodies used.…”

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Morphologic Characterization of Nerves in Whole-Mount Airway Biopsies

West

Canning²,

Merlo‐Pich

et al. 2015

Am J Respir Crit Care Med

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Rationale: Neuroplasticity of bronchopulmonary afferent neurons that respond to mechanical and chemical stimuli may sensitize the cough reflex. Afferent drive in cough is carried by the vagus nerve, and vagal afferent nerve terminals have been well defined in animals. Yet, both unmyelinated C fibers and particularly the morphologically distinct, myelinated, nodose-derived mechanoreceptors described in animals are poorly characterized in humans. To date there are no distinctive molecular markers or detailed morphologies available for human bronchopulmonary afferent nerves.Objectives: Morphologic and neuromolecular characterization of the afferent nerves that are potentially involved in cough in humans.Methods: A whole-mount immunofluorescence approach, rarely used in human lung tissue, was used with antibodies specific to protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5) and, for the first time in human lung tissue, 200-kD neurofilament subunit. Measurements and Main Results:We have developed a robust technique to visualize fibers consistent with autonomic and C fibers and pulmonary neuroendocrine cells. A group of morphologically distinct, 200-kD neurofilament-immunopositive myelinated afferent fibers, a subpopulation of which did not express PGP9.5, was also identified.Conclusions: PGP9.5-immunonegative nerves are strikingly similar to myelinated airway afferents, the cough receptor, and smooth muscle-associated airway receptors described in rodents. These have never been described in humans. Full description of human airway nerves is critical to the translation of animal studies to the clinical setting.

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