The role of human airway smooth muscle cells in chronic airway inflammation and putative therapeutic potential of endothelin receptor antagonism

Background: TNFα has a key role in the establishment of chronic airway inflammation. TNFα-induced expression of inflammatory genes might depend on the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (ET-1) [Thorax, 2009, 64:1044–1052]. Objective: We aimed to investigate the role of human airway smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) in the establishment of chronic airway inflammation. We further elucidated the anti-inflammatory properties of the endothelin receptor antagonists Bosentan (targets ET-A- and ET-B receptor) and Ambrisentan (selective for ET-A receptor). Methods. The response of cultivated HASMCs of n=4 smokers to stimulation wit…