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Three-dimensional mapping of smooth muscle in the distal conducting airways of mouse, rabbit, and monkey
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY, 93 (4): 1506-1514 (октября 2002)
DOI: {10.1152/japplphysiol.01109.2001}
Аннотация
Airway smooth muscle remodeling is implicated in a number of
constrictive pulmonary diseases such as asthma and may include changes
in smooth muscle orientation and abundance. Both factors were compared
in the normal distal bronchioles of the mouse, rabbit, and rhesus monkey
(respiratory bronchioles included). Airway smooth muscle was measured by
using a three-dimensional approach employing confocal microscopy and
whole-mount cytochemistry with fluorochrome-conjugated phalloidin, a
probe for polymerized actin. Smooth muscle orientation had a wide range
of angles along the airway, but the distribution was conserved among
species and among distal airway generations. At the bifurcation of
proximal bronchioles, smooth muscle was nearly parallel to the
longitudinal axis of the airway. Smooth muscle abundance was
significantly different between species (abundance was less in the
monkey compared with the mouse and rabbit), and there was a trend for
abundance to decrease with each more distal airway generation. This
study defines the normal distribution of smooth muscle in three test
species and provides a basis for future comparisons with the diseased
state.
