NOCTURNAL ASTHMA AND AIRWAYS INFLAMMATION

这笔赠款的总体目标是进一步了解 夜间哮喘恶化与昼夜节律增加有关， 夜间支气管反应性。 这将使更好地 基于特定知识的治疗干预， 这种高发病率的疾病 实现这一目标的方法 目标将集中在细胞，神经和结构的变化， 呼吸道的昼夜节律。 这些方面将与 呼吸道的生理功能。 具体的实验设计 将是： 1.在睡眠期间测量和机械改变肺容量，以确定 容积/阻力关系和改变肺容积的影响 对炎症、迷走神经张力和支气管反应性的影响。 2.通过减少气道来确定炎症的作用 对支气管反应性的影响以及 炎症体积和迷走神经张力。 3.测量和阻断迷走神经张力作为夜间哮喘的另一个因素 和增加支气管反应性。 4.确定气道（支气管内）的形态学变化 活检）及其与肺体积、气道 阻力、气道炎症、迷走神经张力和支气管反应性。

The overall objective of this grant is to further our understanding of the nocturnal worsening of asthma in regard to the circadian increase in bronchial responsiveness during the night. This will enable better therapeutic interventions, based upon specific knowledge, for the treatment of this high frequency and morbidity entity. The methods of achieving this goal will focus on cellular, neural and structural changes within the airways on a circadian basis. These aspects will be correlated to the physiologic functioning of the airways. The specific experimental designs will be: 1. To measure and mechanically alter lung volume during sleep to determine the volume/resistance relationship and the effect of changing lung volume on inflammation, vagal tone and bronchial responsiveness. 2. To determine the role of inflammation by decreasing the airways cellularity, on bronchial responsiveness and the interaction of inflammation to volume and vagal tone. 3. To measure and block vagal tone as another factor of nocturnal asthma and increased bronchial responsiveness. 4. To determine the morphologic changes in the airways (endobronchial biopsies) and its relationship to changes in lung volume, airways resistance, airways inflammation, vagal tone and bronchial responsiveness.