The increased airway reactivity characteristic of asthma may be due to contraction of airway
smooth muscle, mucus hypersecretion, edema and thickening of airway walls, and the
pressure of serum proteins and inflammatory cells and their products in the airways.
Increased airway reactivity in asthma correlates with airway epithelial damage and is clearly
related to airway inflammation, a process that most likely involves a complex interaction
among mast cells, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and macrophages. Thus, although …