Smooth muscle hypertrophy in distal airways of sensitized infant rhesus monkeys exposed to house dust mite allergen

Abstract

Repeated cycles of allergen exposure alter postnatal morphogenesis of smooth muscle, affecting both total mass and bundle size, in conducting airways of infant monkeys.

Airway smooth muscle: A modulator of airway remodeling in asthma

“…[22][23][24] In a primate model of asthma, the airways of monkeys sensitized to house dust mite antigen display an increase in smooth muscle mass, as well as smooth muscle bundle size. 25 Morphologic studies confirm the presence of ASM cell hypertrophy in some, but not all, asthmatic patients. 26 Increased cell size appears to negatively correlate with postbronchodilator FEV 1 and distinguishes between severe persistent asthma and milder disease.…”

Understanding the pathophysiology of severe asthma to generate new therapeutic opportunities

“…72,73 Because aberrant communication between the epithelium and underlying mesenchyme reproduces some of the events involved in fetal lung development, 18 the term epithelial-mesenchymal trophic unit (EMTU) has been applied to describe this component of asthma, 73 as also described by Plopper and colleagues when investigating the effects of inhaled environmental factors in airway morphogenesis in nonhuman primates. 74,75 While the EMTU interacts with cells and mediators associated with T H 2-type inflammation, which are corticosteroid sensitive, 76 as the EMTU assumes a more active role in driving remodeling in severe and chronic disease, ensuing airflow obstruction becomes increasingly refractory to corticosteroids 77 and dissociated from some of the environmental factors important in milder disease, such as environmental allergen exposure. Using a newly developed bronchoscopic ultrasonographic probe, we have recently shown that BHR is inversely related to airway wall thickness in patients with asthma.…”

Asthma/Allergic Airways Disease: Does Postnatal Exposure to Environmental Toxicants Promote Airway Pathobiology?

“…Exposure to O 3 , HDMA or both disrupts this developmental process (Tran et al, 2004b). In terminal bronchioles of FA control 6-monthold monkeys, the majority of the smooth muscle bundles (∼74%) around the airway are oriented at an angle less than 15…”