Study Status: Withdrawn
Recruit Status: Withdrawn
Study Type: Observational
Official Title: How Airway Remodeling and Hyperresponsiveness Contribute to Airflow Obstruction in Asthma
Brief Summary:
Airway hyperresponsiveness is a characteristic feature of the asthma. It is known that there is an association between airway hyperresponsiveness and eosinophilic airway inflammation. However, even though inflammation can be reduced with appropriate asthma therapy, it is typical that airway hyperresponsiveness improves only modestly with treatment. The determinants of airway hyperresponsiveness are unclear.
It is also not clear as to the site of airway narrowing in asthma. It is hypothesized that airways beyond the 4th order have the greatest resistance.
We hope to determine the relationships between the airway inflammation, remodeling of the airway and airway hyperresponsiveness. Through local instillation of methacholine at bronchoscopy we will be able to study proximal and distal airways and the extent to which they constrict in vivo