The weekly school Seminars in SBMS have been not been scheduled for 2008 but will return in 2009.
Upcoming Special Seminar -
"Sensory Neural Pathways involved in Cough"
By Stewart Mazzone (from Howard Florey Institute)
23 April 2008
Room 305, MacGregor Building
12.00 - 1.00pm
Cough is the most common presenting symptom of more than 100 clinical conditions of the respiratory system, including a variety of pulmonary infections, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, currently available non-specific anti-tussive drugs offer little benefit over placebo for cough relief. A better understanding of the afferent pathways involved in cough, including identifying novel mechanisms involved in airway afferent nerve activation, is essential for the development of effective anti-tussive therapies. Recent studies have identified a vagal afferent nerve subtype innervating the guinea pig airways that is essential for defensive coughing. This sensory nerve, termed the cough receptor, is a type of low threshold mechanoreceptor that originates in the nodose ganglia and is found distributed along the extrapulmonary airways. Electrophysiological and functional studies readily differentiate cough receptors from the classic rapidly adapting and slowly adapting mechanoreceptors (RARs and SARs, respectively) that innervate the intrapulmonary airways and lungs. Morphological studies have shown that cough receptors assume a stereotypical position in the airway wall and individual terminals are positioned between the smooth muscle and airway epithelium. Functional studies are beginning to unravel the mechanisms underlying activation of the cough receptor, interactions between cough receptors and other airway afferent nerve subtypes and how cough related information maybe processed by the brain.