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Critical Reviews™ in Biomedical Engineering

Published 6 issues per year

ISSN Print: 0278-940X

ISSN Online: 1943-619X

SJR: 0.262 SNIP: 0.372 CiteScore™:: 2.2 H-Index: 56

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Mechanical Determinants of Airways Hyperresponsiveness

Volume 39, Issue 4, 2011, pp. 281-296
DOI: 10.1615/CritRevBiomedEng.v39.i4.30
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ABSTRACT

Asthmatic individuals typically experience exaggerated decrements in their ability to breathe after receiving standardized doses of smooth muscle agonist, a phenomenon known as airways hyperresponsiveness (AHR). Breathing difficulties are caused by excessive narrowing of the pulmonary airways, which is instigated by shortening of the airway smooth muscle (ASM). Exactly why many asthmatic individuals are hyperresponsive, however, remains controversial because of the many varied mechanisms that could possibly be involved. Nevertheless, much of the understanding of AHR comes down to a matter of considering the spatial configuration of the components that make up the airway, and the static and dynamic physical forces these components experience. In this review, we consider these mechanical factors, which are conveniently subdivided into three groups involving (i) the active forces construing to narrow the airways, (ii) the mechanical loads against which these forces must work, and (iii) the geometric transformation of a given degree of ASM shortening into airway narrowing. Each of these groups of factors has potent potential to influence AHR. It is likely, however, that they operate together to produce the AHR characteristic of severe asthma.

CITED BY
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  10. Wilhite Daniel P., Bhammar Dharini M., Balmain Bryce N., Martinez-Fernandez Tanya, Babb Tony G., Inhaled albuterol increases estimated ventilatory capacity in nonasthmatic children without and with obesity, Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology, 285, 2021. Crossref

  11. Bates Jason H.T., Systems physiology of the airways in health and obstructive pulmonary disease, WIREs Systems Biology and Medicine, 8, 5, 2016. Crossref

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  13. Cho Elizabeth, Wu Joyce K. Y., Birriel Daniella Cunha, Matelski John, Nadj Richard, DeHaas Emily, Huang Qian, Yang Kelsey, Xu Tong, Cheung Aloysius B., Woo Lindsay N., Day Lauren, Cypel Marcelo, Tikkanen Jussi, Ryan Clodagh, Chow Chung-Wai, Airway Oscillometry Detects Spirometric-Silent Episodes of Acute Cellular Rejection, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 201, 12, 2020. Crossref

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