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1 Smooth Muscle Research Group, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
2 Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health, St. Joseph's Hospital and the Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: janssenl{at}mcmaster.ca.
Some early studies have called attention to the potential contribution of sodium (both dietary and serum levels) in airway-related disease, although the picture was not entirely clear. Two recent developments may now allow a more careful consideration of this: first, the greatly improved understanding of the role of salt in hypertension (particularly the identification of sub-groups of salt-sensitive individuals within the general population), and the recent discovery of the role of the Na+/Ca2+-exchanger in smooth muscle function. Here, we first review those two developments, and then apply them to airway smooth muscle and asthma.
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