Impaired Bronchoprotection Is Not Induced by Increased Smooth Muscle Mass in Chronic Treatment In Vivo with Formoterol in Asthmatic Mouse Model

Objective: Inhaling β2-adrenoceptor agonist is first-line asthma treatment, which is used for both acute relief of and prevention of bronchoconstriction. However, chronic use of β-agonists results in impaired bronchoprotection and increasing occurrences of severe asthma exacerbation, even death in clinical practice. The mechanism of β-adrenoceptor hyposensitivity has not been thoroughly elucidated thus far. Bronchial smooth muscle contraction induces airway narrowing and also mediates airway inflammation. Moreover, bronchial smooth muscle mass significantly increases in asthmatics. We aim to establish an asthmatic model that demonstrated that formoterol induced impaired bronchoprotection and to see whether increased smooth muscle mass played a role in it.