Paré Peter D, McParland Brent E, Seow Chun Y
Department of Medicine and Respiratory Division and The James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre, St Paul's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2007 Jul;85(7):653-8. doi: 10.1139/Y07-051.
Airway hyperresponsiveness, particularly the ability of airways to narrow excessively in response to stimuli that normally cause little airway narrowing in nonasthmatic subjects, is a characteristic feature of asthma and the basis of its symptoms. Although airway hyperresponsiveness may be partly the result of alterations in the contractile phenotype of the airway smooth muscle, there is evidence that it may also be caused by structural changes in the airway wall, collectively termed airway remodeling. Airway remodeling is defined as changes in composition, quantity, and (or) organization of cellular and molecular constituents of the airway wall. Airway wall remodeling that occurs in asthma can result in functional alterations because of quantitative changes in airway wall compartments, and (or) because of changes in the biochemical composition or material properties of the various constituents of the airway wall. This brief review summarizes the quantitative changes in the dimensions and organization of the airway wall compartments that have been described and explains how structural alterations may lead to the exaggerated airway narrowing.
气道高反应性，尤其是气道对通常在非哮喘受试者中仅引起轻微气道狭窄的刺激产生过度狭窄的能力，是哮喘的一个特征性表现及其症状的基础。尽管气道高反应性可能部分是气道平滑肌收缩表型改变的结果，但有证据表明它也可能由气道壁的结构变化引起，统称为气道重塑。气道重塑被定义为气道壁细胞和分子成分的组成、数量和（或）组织的变化。哮喘中发生的气道壁重塑可因气道壁各部分的数量变化，和（或）因气道壁各种成分的生化组成或材料特性的变化而导致功能改变。本简要综述总结了已描述的气道壁各部分尺寸和组织的定量变化，并解释了结构改变如何导致气道过度狭窄。
