Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 20, 2025

Determining Ciliary Function and Membrane Impermeability of the Pseudostratified Lung Airway Epithelium
Published on: February 21, 2025
Structure and function of small airways in asthma patients revisited
Wytse B van den Bosch1,2, Alan L James3, Harm A W M Tiddens1,2
1Dept of Paediatric Pulmonology and Allergology, Erasmus MC - Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Small airways (<2 mm in diameter) are probably involved across almost all asthma severities and they show proportionally more structural and functional abnormalities with increasing asthma severity. The structural and functional alterations of the epithelium, extracellular matrix and airway smooth muscle in small airways of people with asthma have been described over many years using in vitro studies, animal models or imaging and modelling methods. The purpose of this review was to provide an overview of these observations and to outline several potential pathophysiological mechanisms regarding the role of small airways in asthma.
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