Mitchell, R. W., E. Rühlmann, H. Magnussen, N. M. Muñoz, A. R. Leff, and K. F. Rabe. Conservation of bronchiolar wall area during constriction and dilation of human airways. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(3): 954–958, 1997.—We assessed the effect of smooth muscle contraction and relaxation on airway lumen subtended by the internal perimeter ( A i) and total cross-sectional area ( A o) of human bronchial explants in the absence of the potential lung tethering forces of alveolar tissue to test the hypothesis that bronchoconstriction results in a comparable change of A iand A o. Luminal area (i.e., A i) and A owere measured by using computerized videomicrometry, and bronchial wall area was calculated accordingly. Images on videotape were captured; areas were outlined, and data were expressed as internal pixel number by using imaging software. Bronchial rings were dissected in 1.0- to 1.5-mm sections from macroscopically unaffected areas of lungs from patients undergoing resection for carcinoma, placed in microplate wells containing buffered saline, and allowed to equilibrate for 1 h. Baseline, A o[5.21 ± 0.354 (SE) mm2], and A i(0.604 ± 0.057 mm2) were measured before contraction of the airway smooth muscle (ASM) with carbachol. Mean A inarrowed by 0.257 ± 0.052 mm2in response to 10 μM carbachol ( P = 0.001 vs. baseline). Similarly, A onarrowed by 0.272 ± 0.110 mm2in response to carbachol ( P = 0.038 vs. baseline; P = 0.849 vs. change in A i). Similar parallel changes in cross-sectional area for A iand A owere observed for relaxation of ASM from inherent tone of other bronchial rings in response to 10 μM isoproterenol. We demonstrate a unique characteristic of human ASM; i.e., both luminal and total cross-sectional area of human airways change similarly on contraction and relaxation in vitro, resulting in a conservation of bronchiolar wall area with bronchoconstriction and dilation.