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Is Airway Smooth Muscle the "Missing Link" Modulating Airway Inflammation in Asthma?^*

^* From the Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Division, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.

Correspondence to: Omar Tliba, PhD, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Division, University of Pennsylvania, 125 South 31st St, TRL Suite 1200, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3403; e-mail: omartlib{at}mail.med.upenn.edu

Abstract

Airway smooth muscle (ASM) plays a central role in regulating bronchomotor tone in patients with asthma. New evidence, however, suggests that ASM may also orchestrate and perpetuate airway inflammation by promoting the recruitment, activation, and trafficking of inflammatory cells in the airways. This review addresses the immunomodulatory function of ASM and highlights how such function may have therapeutic implications in the management of asthma.

Key Words: airway remodeling • bronchoconstriction • hyperplasia • hypertrophy