Figure 1.

A: representative image (×40 magnification) of large airway describing the epithelial (EP) area, lamina propria (LP) area (120-µm deep), and distance between two trace lines. In case of epithelial and reticular basement membrane (RBM) thickness, three trace lines: one at apical (A) and another at the basal surfaces (B) of epithelium, and another trace line at outer limit of lamina reticula (C) were drawn using automated software Image-Pro Plus. The average distance (in µm) between two lines was measured. B: representative image (×10 magnification) of large airway tissue describing the smooth muscle (SM) areas and entire biopsy tissue area.