The role of nerves in asthma
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 31, 2026

A Method to Target and Isolate Airway-innervating Sensory Neurons in Mice
Published on: April 19, 2016
Bradley J Undem1, Michael J Carr
1Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 5501 Hopkins Bayview Circle, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. bundem@mail.jhmi.edu
Abstract:
Asthma is a syndrome characterized by reversible episodes of wheezing, cough, and sensations of chest tightness and breathlessness. These symptoms are secondary to changes in the activity of the nervous system. The mechanisms by which the nervous system is altered such that the symptoms of asthma occur have not yet been elucidated. Airway inflammation associated with asthma may affect neuronal activity at several points along the neural reflex pathway, including the function of the primary afferent (sensory) nerves, integration within the central nervous system, synaptic transmission within autonomic ganglia, and transmission at the level of the postganglionic neuroeffector junction. We provide a brief overview of these interactions and the relevance they may have to asthma.
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