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Airway collagen and elastic fiber content correlates with lung function in equine heaves.
Abstract: The consequences on lung function and inflammation of alterations in the extracellular matrix affecting the peripheral airway wall in asthma are largely unknown. We hypothesized that remodeling of collagen and elastic fibers in the peripheral airway wall leads to airway obstruction and contributes to neutrophilic airway inflammation. Animals used were six heaves-affected horses and five controls. Large peripheral lung biopsies were obtained from horses with heaves in clinical remission (Baseline) and during disease exacerbation and from age-matched controls. The area of collagen and elastic fiber content in the lamina propria was measured by histological staining techniques and corrected for airway size. Collagen type 1 and type 3 content was further assessed from additional horses after postmortem lung samples by immunohistochemistry. The collagen breakdown products proline-glycine-proline (PGP) and N-acetylated-PGP (N-α-PGP) were also measured in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) by mass spectrometry. Compared with controls, heaves-affected horses had an increase in collagen (P = 0.05) and elastic fiber contents (P = 0.04) at baseline. Collagen types 1 and 3 content was also significantly increased in diseased horses (P = 0.015) when both collagen types were combined. No further change in collagen content was observed after a 30-day antigenic challenge. Airway collagen at baseline was positively correlated with pulmonary resistance in asthmatic horses (r(2) = 0.78, P = 0.03) and elastic fiber content was positively associated with pulmonary elastance in controls (r(2) = 0.95, P = 0.02). No difference between groups was appreciated in PGP and N-α-PGP peptides in BALF. Increased airway wall collagen and elastic fiber content may contribute to residual obstruction in the asthmatic airways.
Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.
Publication Date: 2014-05-30 PubMed ID: 24879055DOI: 10.1152/ajplung.00019.2014Google Scholar: Lookup The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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This study investigates how changes in the collagen and elastic fibers in the peripheral airway wall could affect lung function and potentially contribute to an inflammation condition in horses known as ‘heaves.’ It finds that horses with this condition have increased collagen and elastic fiber content in their airways, positively correlating with pulmonary resistance and elastance, respectively, indicating a possible involvement in airway obstruction in asthma-like conditions.
Research Context and Objective
- Changes in the extracellular matrix of the peripheral airway wall may affect lung function, as observed in lung diseases like asthma. However, the exact effects and correlations are not well-understood.
- This research hypothesizes that alterations in collagen and elastic fibers, two major components of the airway wall, could lead to airway obstruction and enhance neutrophilic airway inflammation, a common feature in respiratory disorders.
- This study uses horses suffering from ‘heaves’, an asthma-like condition, to explore this hypothesis.
Methodology
- The study involved six horses with heaves and five healthy control horses.
- The researchers collected large peripheral lung biopsies from heaves-affected horses during periods of clinical remission (baseline) and during disease exacerbation, as well as from healthy controls.
- The collagen and elastic fiber content in the lamina propria, a layer of the airway wall, was measured using histological staining techniques and corrected for airway size.
- Additional samples from post-mortem lung specimens were used to assess the content of collagen types 1 and 3 using immunohistochemistry.
- Two collagen breakdown products, proline-glycine-proline (PGP) and N-acetylated-PGP (N-α-PGP), were measured in broncho-alveolar lavage fluids (BALF) using mass spectrometry.
Findings
- Horses with heaves had significantly greater amounts of collagen (P = 0.05) and elastic fibers (P = 0.04) in their airways at the baseline stage compared to healthy controls.
- The content of collagen types 1 and 3 was also significantly higher in horses with heaves (P = 0.015) when considering both collagen types together. However, there was no noticeable change in collagen content following a 30-day antigenic challenge, a stimulus that can exacerbate the disease.
- Airway collagen was found to correlate positively with pulmonary resistance, and elastic fiber content correlated with pulmonary elastance, suggesting these components may contribute to airway obstruction.
- No difference was seen in levels of the two collagen breakdown products PGP and N-α-PGP in BALF between the groups.
Conclusion
- The findings suggest that increased collagen and elastic fiber content in the airway walls may contribute to residual obstruction in asthma-like conditions, such as heaves in horses.
- This highlights the potential vital role of these extracellular matrix components in modulating lung function and inflammation in respiratory diseases.
Cite This Article
APA
Setlakwe EL, Lemos KR, Lavoie-Lamoureux A, Duguay JD, Lavoie JP.
(2014).
Airway collagen and elastic fiber content correlates with lung function in equine heaves.
Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, 307(3), L252-L260.
https://doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.00019.2014 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Q, Canada.
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Q, Canada.
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Q, Canada.
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Q, Canada.
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Q, Canada jean-pierre.lavoie@umontreal.ca.
MeSH Terms
- Airway Obstruction / metabolism
- Airway Obstruction / pathology
- Animals
- Asthma / metabolism
- Asthma / pathology
- Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid
- Collagen Type I / metabolism
- Collagen Type III / metabolism
- Elastic Tissue / metabolism
- Horse Diseases / metabolism
- Horse Diseases / pathology
- Horses / metabolism
- Inflammation / metabolism
- Inflammation / pathology
- Lung / metabolism
- Lung / pathology
- Neutrophils / metabolism
- Neutrophils / pathology
- Oligopeptides / metabolism
- Proline / analogs & derivatives
- Proline / metabolism
- Prospective Studies
Grant Funding
- R0017988 / Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Citations
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