Assessing pulmonary pathology by detailed examination of respiratory function.

ABSTRACT: Pulmonary inflammation causes multiple alterations within the lung, including mucus production, recruitment of inflammatory cells, and airway hyperreactivity (AHR). Measurement of AHR by direct, invasive means (eg, mechanical ventilation) or noninvasive techniques, like whole body plethysmography (WBP), assesses the severity of pulmonary inflammation in animal models of inflammatory lung disease. Direct measurement of AHR is acknowledged as the most accurate method for assessing airway mechanics, but analysis of all data obtained from WBP may offer insights into which inflammatory aspects of the lung are altered along with AHR. Using WBP, we compared the respiratory parameters of two groups of mice sensitized with cockroach allergen. One group was treated with dexamethasone (Dex) before fi

SUBMITTER: Vaickus LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2947281 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature