ReviewComprehensive Physiology2016
Lung Structure and the Intrinsic Challenges of Gas Exchange.
Review in Comprehensive Physiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
103 citing papers in PubMed, 191 citations in OpenAlex.
- Radiotherapy-Induced Side Effects: Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatments.MedComm · 2026Review
- A mechanically actuated lung microvascular model reveals that breathing-like deformation enhances tumor cell extravasation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- From central to pulmonary capillary blood volume: Evidence for a non-linear relationship with pulmonary diffusing capacity.The Journal of physiology · 2026Article
- An operational approach for estimating pulmonary diffusing capacity for oxygen in humans.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Engineering function in lung biology: integrating imaging, regenerative constructs, and functional biodesign.American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2026Review
- Investigating human lung resilience, its evolutionary history and its relation to COPD.American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2026Review
- Respiratory Organ-on-a-Chip for Disease Modeling: From Architecture to Functional Integration.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- Myeloid-derived alveolar-like macrophages are a tractable model to understand the role of ontogeny in alveolar macrophage functionbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- TGFβ primes alveolar-like macrophages to induce type I IFN following TLR2 activation.Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) · 2026Article
- Review
- A modified method of lung tissue volume measurement using computed tomography numbers.Japanese journal of radiology · 2026Article
- Refractory Lung Diseases: From Cellular Structures, Molecular Mechanisms to Therapeutic Strategies.Pediatric discovery · 2026Review
- Pulmonary Drug Delivery for Infectious Diseases: Cutting-Edge Formulations and Manufacturing Technologies.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- Evolutionary Integration and Glucocorticoid Regulation of the Respiratory System: Structure, Function, and Homeostatic Adaptation.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Characterizing Spatiotemporal Expansion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Communities in Polymer and Mucin Gel Environments.Biotechnology and bioengineering · 2026Article
- Mechanical Forces and Mechanotransduction in COPD: Pathogenesis, Clinical Phenotypes, and Therapeutic Implications.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2026Review
- A hypothesized mechanism by which inhaled low-concentration ethanol vapor may bias early entry dynamics of enveloped respiratory viruses.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Integrative radiomics and habitat imaging models for predicting PD-L1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- The Application and Challenges of Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Inhalation Lung Injury.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Review
- Effects and potential mechanisms of the ultra-high dose rate radiotherapy on lung injury: a review.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2025Review
43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Structural and functional complexities of the mammalian lung evolved to meet a unique set of challenges, namely, the provision of efficient delivery of inspired air to all lung units within a confined thoracic space, to build a large gas exchange surface associated with minimal barrier thickness and a microvascular network to accommodate the entire right ventricular cardiac output while withstanding cyclic mechanical stresses that increase several folds from rest to exercise. Intricate regulatory mechanisms at every level ensure that the dynamic capacities of ventilation, perfusion, diffusion, and chemical binding to hemoglobin are commensurate with usual metabolic demands and periodic extreme needs for activity and survival. This article reviews the structural design of mammalian and human lung, its functional challenges, limitations, and potential for adaptation. We discuss (i) the evolutionary origin of alveolar lungs and its advantages and compromises, (ii) structural determinants of alveolar gas exchange, including architecture of conducting bronchovascular trees that converge in gas exchange units, (iii) the challenges of matching ventilation, perfusion, and diffusion and tissue-erythrocyte and thoracopulmonary interactions. The notion of erythrocytes as an integral component of the gas exchanger is emphasized. We further discuss the signals, sources, and limits of structural plasticity of the lung in alveolar hypoxia and following a loss of lung units, and the promise and caveats of interventions aimed at augmenting endogenous adaptive responses. Our objective is to understand how individual components are matched at multiple levels to optimize organ function in the face of physiological demands or pathological constraints.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.