Airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine is an important characteristic of asthma. Many devices can be used to measure airway responsiveness in the mouse but it is well established that the invasiveness of a measurement technique is correlated with its precision and reproducibility. This protocol describes how to measure airway responses to aerosolized methacholine in anesthetized, tracheotomized, and mechanically ventilated mice using the forced oscillation technique with FlexiVent^® (SCIREQ). This is a computer-controlled precision piston pump that can intersperse mechanical ventilation with volume and pressure controlled manoeuvres to obtain accurate, reproducible measurement of respiratory mechanics.

Airway responsiveness (气道反应性)

Forced oscillation technique (强迫振荡技术)

Flexivent® (®FlexiVent)

Methacholine (乙酰甲胆碱)

Mouse (小鼠)