The Neurochemical Coding of Airway Afferents

The “neurochemical coding” is the combination of chemical features (e.g., structural proteins, molecular receptors, neurotransmitter content) that defines a neuronal cell type or certain nerve fibre population. With the advances of immunohistochemistry, in combination with confocal microscopy, intrapulmonary airway sensory nerve fibres and the concomitant airway receptor end-structures can now be examined in detail and evaluated objectively (Yu 2009). Moreover, application of these techniques potentially allows to clearly evaluate the relationship of primary afferents with associated tissues and cells, and to get more profound insights into their potential functions.