Airway remodeling comprises the structural changes of airway walls, induced by repeated injury and repair processes. It occurs in patients with chronic inflammatory airway diseases such as asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis, and cystic fibrosis. Airway remodeling is one of the most intractable problems in these diseases, leading to irreversible loss of lung function. Current therapeutics can ameliorate inflammation, but there is no available therapy to prevent or reverse airway remodeling.
Airway remodeling is often considered the result of longstanding airway inflammation, but it may be present to an equivalent degree in the airways of children with asthma, raising the necessity for early and specific therapeutic interventions.
References:
Mechanisms of Airway Remodeling. Nobuaki Hirota, MD, PhD; James G. Martin, MD, DSc. Chest. 2013;144(3):1026-1032. doi:10.1378/chest.12-3073.
Image source: Lungs, Wikipedia, public domain.
