Pulmonary artery remodeling reversibility in an equine model of asthma

Abstract

Chronic asthma is characterized by reversible airway obstruction, lower airway inflammation and remodeling.Chronic hypoxemia is also present in severe uncontrolled asthmatic patients. In COPD, inflammation and hypoxemia result in pulmonary artery remodeling associated with increased vascular smooth muscle mass, leading to increased vascular resistance and onset of pulmonary hypertension. Although inflammation and hypoxemia are also in severely affected asthmatic patients, the presence of pulmonary artery remodeling is unknown. Severe human and equine asthma shares striking similarities, making the horse a good spontaneous animal model for the disease. The aims are to investigate whether pulmonary artery remodeling occurs in an equine spontaneous model of severe asthma and to assess wether vascular remodeling changes are reversible after long term asthma treatment