Journal of Applied Physiology
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J Appl Physiol 82: 70-77, 1997;
8750-7587/97 $5.00
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Journal of Applied Physiology
Vol. 82, No. 1, pp. 70-77, January 1997
GAS EXCHANGE, MECHANICS, AND AIRWAYS

Airway smooth muscle orientation in intraparenchymal airways

M. Lei, H. Ghezzo, M. F. Chen, and D. H. Eidelman

Meakins-Christie Laboratories, Montreal Chest Institute Research Centre, Royal Victoria and Montreal General Hospitals, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2X 2P2

Received 8 April 1996; accepted in final form 21 August 1996.

Lei, M., H. Ghezzo, M. F. Chen, and D. H. Eidelman. Airway smooth muscle orientation in intraparenchymal airways. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(1): 70-77, 1997.---Airway smooth muscle (ASM) shortening is the central event leading to bronchoconstriction. The degree to which airway narrowing occurs as a consequence of shortening is a function of both the mechanical properties of the airway wall as well as the orientation of the muscle fibers. Although the latter is theoretically important, it has not been systematically measured to date. The purpose of this study was to determine the angle of orientation of ASM (theta ) in normal lungs by using a morphometric approach. We analyzed the airway tree of the left lower lobes of four cats and one human. All material was fixed with 10% buffered Formalin at a pressure of 25 cmH2O for 48 h. The fixed material was dissected along the airway tree to permit isolation of generations 4-18 in the cats and generations 5-22 in the human specimen. Each airway generation was individually embedded in paraffin. Five-micrometer-thick serial sections were cut parallel to the airway long axis and stained with hematoxylin-phloxine-saffron. Each block yielded three to five sections containing ASM. To determine theta , we measured the orientation of ASM nuclei relative to the transverse axis of the airway by using a digitizing tablet and a light microscope (×250) equipped with a drawing tube attachment. Inspection of the sections revealed extensive ASM crisscrossing without a homogeneous orientation. The theta  was clustered between -20° and 20° in all airway generations and did not vary much between generations in any of the cats or in the human specimen. When theta  was expressed without regard to sign, the mean values were 13.2° in the cats and 13.1° in the human. This magnitude of obliquity is not likely to result in physiologically important changes in airway length during bronchoconstriction.

morphometry; angle of orientation; cats; human

0161-7567/97 $5.00 Copyright © 1997 the American Physiological Society




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