Fig. 7.

Propionate by itself did not alter the basal human airway smooth muscle tone but potentiated acetylcholine (ACh)-induced contractions in human airway smooth muscle strips. A: representative tracings of muscle force recordings in human airway smooth muscle strip treated with propionate (10 mM). B: propionate did not alter basal human airway smooth muscle tone (n = 3). Data are means ± SE. C: representative tracings of muscle force recordings in human airway smooth muscle strip contracted with ACh (EC₅₀ concentration), followed by propionate (10 mM). D: propionate significantly potentiated the ACh (EC₅₀)-induced contraction. Data are means ± SE. ***P < 0.001 compared with time control. Numbers of experiments are shown in parentheses.