title: Modulation of airway sensitivity to inhaled irritants: role of inflammatory mediators.
abstract: Bronchopulmonary C-fiber endings and rapidly adapting pulmonary receptors (RARs) are primarily responsible for eliciting the defense reflexes in protecting the lungs against inhaled irritants. In anesthetized animals, inhalation of cigarette smoke, one of the common inhaled irritants, into the lungs elicits pulmonary chemoreflexes that are mediated through the stimulation of pulmonary C fibers. When the C-fiber conduction is selectively blocked in the vagus nerves, the same smoke inhalation triggered only augmented breaths, a reflex effect of activating RARs, in the same animals. Indeed, electrophysiologic study shows that inhaled smoke exerts a direct stimulatory effect on both types of afferents. Increasing evidence indicates that the excitability of these afferents and therefore their reflex actions are enhanced by airway mucosal inflammation; one such example is the airway hyperresponsiveness induced by acute exposure to ozone. Although the mechanism underlying the inflammation-induced hypersensitivity of C-fiber endings is not fully understood, the possible involvement of local release of certain inflammatory mediators, such as histamine and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2), should be considered. It is believed that changes in the membrane properties mediated by the activation of certain specific receptor proteins located on the membrane of these nerve terminals are involved, as the sensitizing effects of PGE(2) can be also demonstrated in cultured pulmonary C neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky 40536-0298, USA. lylee@pop.uky.edu
authors.forename: L Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Widdicombe
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002415:Cats; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D007509:Irritants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000294:innervation*; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D010126:Ozone / Q000009:adverse effects; D051381:Rats; D012018:Reflex / Q000187:drug effects; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D007509:Irritants; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D010126:Ozone