The effect of asthma on the perimeter of the airway basement membrane

© 2015 The American Physiological Society. Elliot JG, Budgeon CA, Harji S, Jones RL, James AL, Green FH. The effect of asthma on the perimeter of the airway basement membrane. J Appl Physiol 119: 1114-1117, 2015. First published September 17, 2015; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00076.2015.-When comparing the pathology of airways in individuals with and without asthma, the perimeter of the basement membrane (Pbm) is used as a marker of airway size, as it is independent of airway smooth muscle shortening or airway collapse. The extent to which the Pbm is itself altered in asthma has not been quantified. The aim of this study was to compare the Pbm from the same anatomical sites in postmortem lungs from subjects with (n = 55) and without (n = 30) asthma (nonfatal or fatal). Large and small airways were systematically sampled at equidistant "levels" from the apical segment of the left upper lobes and anterior and basal segments of the left lower lobes of lungs fixed in inflation. The length of the Pbm was estimated from cross sections of airway at each relative level. Linear mixed models were used to investigate the relationships between Pbm and sex, age, height, smoking status, airway level, and asthma group. The final model showed significant interactions between Pbm and airway level in small (