Abstract
The airways form conduits to allow ambient air to reach alveoli in terminal airways, where gas exchange occurs, followed by elimination of exchanged air. Although apparently simple, this function requires the airways to condition inspired air, to maintain patent conduits, and to protect the lungs against airborne threats. Airway epithelium performs all these functions: it conditions and filters air in the upper airways, provides an important barrier, is intimately involved in gas exchange, and plays a key role in host defense because of its position at the boundary between the environment and the internal tissues. The epithelium responds to microbes and noxious stimuli that overcome the mucociliary barrier by releasing inflammatory mediators that recruit immune cells, triggering immune responses. This chapter reviews the anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology of the airway epithelium as they relate to allergic diseases and asthma. Additional information on innate immunity (Chapter 9), the mucociliary system (Chapter 39), airway remodeling (Chapter 55), and airway pathology (Chapters 62, 68, 78 and 79) is reviewed elsewhere in this book.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Allergy and Allergic Diseases, Second Edition |
| Editors | AB Kay, J Bousquet, PG Holt, AP Kaplan |
| Place of Publication | Hoboken |
| Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
| Pages | 366-397 |
| Number of pages | 32 |
| Volume | 1 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781405157209 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 10 2009 |
Keywords
- Airway epithelium
- Apical intercellular adhesion complex
- Ciliated epithelial cells
- Cytokines, chemokines and neuropeptides
- Enzymes involved in production of reactive oxygen species (ROS)
- Epithelial role in homeostasis and in host responses to environment, disease
- Epithelium in innate immunity
- Epithelium role in adaptive immune responses
- Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)
- Pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (PNECs)
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine
