MUCOSAL EXUDATION IN RESPIRATORY DEFENSE - NEURAL OR NONNEURAL CONTROL

In human and animal airways, mucosal exudation of unfiltered plasma occurs promptly in response to inflammatory provocations (allergen, occupational factors, mediators). Mucosal exudation is distinctly an increase in outward permeability of vascular-mucosal barriers and it leaves the epithelial lining intact. Through its volume, its proteins including immunoglobulins, its enzyme systems and its newly generated peptides, the plasma exudate constitutes a comprehensive first-line mucosal defence. In rodent, but not in human airways, tachykinin neuropeptides have a demonstrated capacity to produce mucosal exudation.