Stephen G. Farmer

Airway epithelium modulates the reactivity of guinea-pig respiratory smooth muscle.

The influence of the epithelium on the reactivity of guinea-pig tracheal smooth muscle in vitro was investigated. Mechanical removal of the epithelium produced contrasting effects on methacholine-, histamine- and K+-induced contractions of tracheal strips. Epithelium removal resulted in 2.1-fold shifts to the left of histamine and methacholine concentration-response curves, and an increase in the maximum response to histamine; the maximum response to methacholine was unaffected. Epithelium removal had little effect on the sensitivity, but decreased the maximum response to K+. The results suggest that inhibitory and excitatory factor(s) are released from epithelial cells, and that these factors modulate the reactivity of the smooth muscle. Indomethacin (1 microM) produced in epithelium-containing preparations qualitatively identical effects on the sensitivity to methacholine and on the maximum response to histamine as removal of the epithelium. However, indomethacin was without effect on the sensitivity to histamine in the presence or absence of the epithelium. Alterations in the production or release of epithelial cell-derived factors may contribute to the airway hyperreactivity observed in respiratory disorders.

The effects of epithelium removal on the sensitivity of guinea-pig isolated trachealis to bronchodilator drugs

1 Mechanical removal of the epithelium increased the sensitivity of tracheal strips to isoprenaline, sodium nitroprusside, and to adenosine (only in the presence of inhibitors of its uptake and metabolism). Epithelium removal was without effect on sensitivity to salbutamol or papaverine. 2 Preincubation of tracheal strips with an inhibitor of extraneuronal uptake, corticosterone (50 μM), had no effect on tissue sensitivity to either salbutamol or papaverine. However, the steroid both increased sensitivity to isoprenaline, and abolished the effect of epithelium removal on sensitivity to this catecholamine. 3 These results suggest that in the guinea‐pig, the tracheal epithelium is a major source of extraneuronal uptake for catecholamines. Furthermore, the increase in trachealis sensitivity to isoprenaline following epithelium removal is probably due to loss of these sites of extraneuronal uptake. 4 The fact that sensitivity to salbutamol, papaverine and adenosine (in the absence of metabolic inhibitors) was not increased by denuding the epithelium indicates that loss of a diffusion barrier to drugs is not the mechanism of increased sensitivity. 5 Adenosine (and possibly nitroprusside) may cause the epithelium to release a smooth muscle excitatory factor. Thus, removal of the epithelium attenuates this excitatory influence and enhances smooth muscle responsiveness to adenosine. 6 These results provide further evidence that the epithelium has an important role in modulating the sensitivity of guinea‐pig trachealis to drugs.

Epithelium removal increases the reactivity of human isolated tracheal muscle to methacholine and reduces the effect of verapamil.

Removal of the epithelium increased the sensitivity of human isolated tracheal smooth muscle to methacholine, producing a greater than 2-fold leftward shift in the concentration-response curve. Concomitantly, the ability of verpamil to lower the maximum contractile response was reduced in tissues without an intact epithelium. These findings suggest a role for the epithelium in modulating the reactivity of human and extend the findings of similar studies in experimental animals.

Epithelium modulates the reactivity of ovalbumin-sensitized guinea-pig airway smooth muscle

Mechanical removal of the airway epithelium alters the in vitro reactivity of airway smooth muscle. The modulation of reactivity may involve the release of inhibitory and excitatory factors from epithelial cells. Guinea pigs sensitized with ovalbumin have been used as an animal model of airway hyperreactivity. We evaluated the influence of the epithelium on the reactivity of in vitro tracheal smooth muscle from control and ovalbumin-sensitized guinea pigs, and the extent to which the presence of the epithelium affects the contractile response to in vitro challenge with ovalbumin. In both control and ovalbumin-sensitized tissues, epithelium removal increased the sensitivity of the preparations to histamine, methacholine and isoproterenol to a similar extent, i.e., 2- to 2.5-fold. Epithelium removal resulted in an 8.1-fold increase in sensitivity to ovalbumin in sensitized tissues. The epithelium appears not only to modulate the reactivity of the tissues to bronchoactive agents, but it also influences the magnitude of the contractile response following antigen challenge.

Differential effects of epithelium removal on the responsiveness of guinea‐pig tracheal smooth muscle to bronchoconstrictors

1 The influence of the epithelium on contractions produced by the peptidoleukotrienes, 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) and the thromboxane mimetic, U‐44069, was examined in trachea from control and ovalbumin‐sensitized guinea‐pigs. 2 In control tissues removal of the epithelium produced an approximately 2 to 4 fold leftward shift in leukotriene C4 (LTC4) and LTD4 concentration‐response curves, but no effect on LTE4‐induced contractions. Similar results were obtained in preparations from ovalbumin‐sensitized animals. 3 Responses produced by 5‐HT or U‐44069 were similar in the presence and absence of the epithelium in control guinea‐pigs. 4 Indomethacin produced contrasting effects on leukotriene‐induced contractions in control guinea‐pigs: an increase in sensitivity to LTC4 in the presence but not absence of the epithelium, no effect on LTD4‐induced contractions and a decrease in sensitivity to LTE4 in both epithelium‐containing and epithelium‐free preparations. 5 These results indicate that there is selectivity in the effects of epithelium removal on agonist‐induced contractions of the guinea‐pig trachea. This provides further evidence for the modulatory influence of the epithelium on the reactivity of mammalian airway smooth muscle and supports the postulated existence of an epithelium‐derived inhibitory factor. The observation that in intact trachea indomethacin mimics the effects of epithelium removal on LTC4‐induced responses, suggests the involvement of a prostanoid(s) in this phenomenon.

The effect of verapamil is reduced in isolated airway smooth muscle preparations lacking the epithelium

The effect of epithelium removal on the reactivity of rabbit airway smooth muscle to bronchoactive agents and on the effect of verapamil was studied in vitro using preparations from several levels within the respiratory tree, i.e., trachea, primary (10) and secondary (20) bronchus. Methacholine contracted tissues from all three levels of airway. Histamine contracted strips from 20 bronchus, had an inconsistent action in strips from 10 bronchus and was without effect in tracheal preparations. K+ contracted tissues from the trachea and 10 bronchus, and had a mixed action in 20 bronchial strips. Removal of the epithelial cell layer variably affected the reactivity of the smooth muscle to the three agents studied. In 20 bronchus, epithelium removal potentiated responses to histamine and methacholine. In 10 bronchus, only responses to methacholine were consistently augmented. In tracheal preparations epithelium removal did not alter the reactivity of the tissue to any agent examined. Verapamil (1 microM) attenuated responses to all agents and increased in its potency from tracheal through 10 to 20 bronchial preparations. Following epithelium removal, verapamil was substantially less effective in 20 bronchi, yet its effects were unchanged in the trachea. The results indicate that the epithelial cell layer modulates airway smooth muscle reactivity; this phenomenon is apparently widespread in mammals, the modulatory effect is more prominent in the smaller airways, and the magnitude of the effect of verapamil on airway smooth muscle is, in part, related to the presence of the epithelium.