Evidence of Airway Remodeling in Asthma

A number of studies indicate that irreversible airflow obstruction may occur in asthma, associated with structural changes consistent with an airway remodeling process (153). Morphometric studies have shown prominent smooth muscle hyperplasia and hypertrophy in both large and small airways (154), increased angiogenesis (155), prominent mucus gland hyperplasia (156), and airway wall thickening particularly in cases of fatal asthma (157). 

Recent studies suggest that the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) may play an important role in the repair of the epithelium in asthma (167). Overexpression of the EGFRs and C erb pi, but not C erb P2, P3, or P4, has been shown in both repairing and apparently normal epithelium in asthma (168,169), suggesting that the bronchial epithelium in asthma is chronically stressed and in a persistent repair phenotype. Epidermal growth factor receptor can be acti- 

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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Asthma A Roie for Locai Airway IgE Production in Both  

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