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Previous Volume 347:1040-1041 September 26, 2002 Number 13 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: Brightling et al. (May 30 issue)¹ report that, in patients with asthma, there is mast-cell infiltration of airway smooth muscle associated with hyperresponsiveness. As pointed out by the authors and by Black in an accompanying editorial,² it is not known whether such infiltration is a specific feature of asthma or a general characteristic of obstructive airway diseases.

In our study of a method of inflammation analysis,³ we found high concentrations of mast cells (63 per square millimeter) in the smooth muscle of bronchial specimens obtained from smokers. To confirm that mast cells also infiltrate smooth muscle in . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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