Philippou S, Potthast J, Marek W
Department of Pathology, Ruhr University Bochum, FRG.
Respiration. 1993;60(4):232-6. doi: 10.1159/000196205.
The neurogenic basis of nonspecific airway hyperresponsiveness (NAH) is poorly understood. Under experimental conditions isocyanates can elicit bronchial hyperresponsiveness in animals. The purpose of our study was to determine whether reactions of neurosecretory granules in nonmedullated C fibers might play a role in NAH. Our experiments were based on the fact that capsaicin treatment causes depletion of neurosecretory granules in vicinity of C fibers. We gave rabbits repeated subcutaneous injections of capsaicin. The animals were then treated with toluene diisocyanate (TDI), inducing airway hyperresponsiveness upon acetylcholine (ACH) inhalation. In capsaicin-treated animals the neurosecretory granules were not evident ultrastructurally and airway hyperresponsiveness did not occur in response to TDI treatment. Controls that were not treated with capsaicin displayed both neurosecretory granules ultrastructurally as well as airway hyperresponsiveness to ACH. We conclude that in the rabbit, NAH is related to the presence of neurosecretory granules adjacent to nonmedullated C fibers.
非特异性气道高反应性（NAH）的神经源性基础目前尚不清楚。在实验条件下，异氰酸酯可引发动物的支气管高反应性。我们研究的目的是确定无髓鞘C纤维中神经分泌颗粒的反应是否在NAH中起作用。我们的实验基于这样一个事实，即辣椒素处理会导致C纤维附近的神经分泌颗粒耗尽。我们给兔子反复皮下注射辣椒素。然后用甲苯二异氰酸酯（TDI）处理这些动物，吸入乙酰胆碱（ACH）时会诱发气道高反应性。在经辣椒素处理的动物中，超微结构上神经分泌颗粒不明显，并且对TDI处理未出现气道高反应性。未用辣椒素处理的对照组在超微结构上显示出神经分泌颗粒，并且对ACH有气道高反应性。我们得出结论，在兔子中，NAH与无髓鞘C纤维附近神经分泌颗粒的存在有关。
