The effects of selective cyclooxygenase (COX) isoform (COX-1, COX-2) inhibition, alone or in combination with nitric-oxide synthase (NOS) blockade, on in vitro tracheal muscle responsiveness to histamine were investigated in healthy and ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized guinea pigs. Immunohistochemistry showed that COX-1 and COX-2 are constitutively present in normal guinea pig trachea, particularly in the epithelial layer, and that COX-2 expression is enhanced in OVA-sensitized animals both in epithelial and subepithelial tissues. In normal guinea pigs, SC-560 [5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-trifluoromethylpyrazole] (COX-1 inhibitor) or DFU [5,5-dimethyl-3-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(4-methylsulphonyl)phenyl-2(5H)-furanone] (COX-2 inhibitor) significantly increased the contractile response to histamine, these effects being not additive. NOS inhibition by L-N G -nitro-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) did not affect histamine-induced contraction but reversed the increase caused by COX-1 blockade while not modifying the enhancement associated with COX-2 inhibition. In guinea pigs subjected to OVA sensitization and challenge, COX-2, but not COX-1, inhibition enhanced the motor responses to histamine without any influence by L-NAME. In normal, but not in sensitized animals, the removal of epithelial layer from tracheal preparations abolished the enhancing action of DFU on histaminemediated contraction. A COX-2-dependent release of prostacyclin (PGI 2 ), but not prostaglandin E 2 , was observed in tracheal tissues from normal and OVA-sensitized guinea pigs. In conclusion, both COX-1 and COX-2 are constitutive in guinea pig trachea, and COX-2 expression is enhanced by OVA sensitization; in normal animals, epithelial COX-2 exerts a PGI 2 -dependent inhibitory control on tracheal contractility, and this isoform is subjected to upstream regulation by epithelial COX-1 and NOS through a complex interplay; and following antigen sensitization, the inhibitory control on tracheal contractility is maintained by COX-2 induced at subepithelial cell sites.Both nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandins (PGs) are relevant mediators in airway physiology and pathology, and their production is regulated by different enzyme isoforms. NO is formed from L-arginine by NO synthase (NOS), of which three isoforms have been identified: neuronal NOS, inducible NOS, and endothelial NOS (Ogden and Moore, 1995). PG synthesis depends on cyclooxygenase (COX), two main isozymes of which are currently recognized: COX-1, constitutively expressed in different tissues, and COX-2, regarded as an inducible isoform, since an increase in its expression has been associated with inflammatory processes (Simmons et al., 2004).It is generally believed that the production of NO and PGs by constitutive enzyme isoforms is important for physiological functions, whereas their formation via inducible isoforms is involved mainly in inflammatory and other pathological responses (Di Rosa et al., 1996). Increasing evidence suggests a link between NOS and COX pathways (Di Rosa ...