Letters to the Editor

The following is the abstract of the article discussed in the subsequent letter: Yuan, Huichin, Edward P. Ingenito, and Béla Suki. Dynamic properties of lung parenchyma: mechanical contributions of fiber network and interstitial cells. J. Appl. Physiol. 83(5): 1420–1431, 1997.—We investigated the contributions of the connective tissue fiber network and interstitial cells to parenchymal mechanics in a surfactant-free system. In eight strips of uniform dimension from guinea pig lung, we assessed the storage (G′) and loss (G") moduli by using pseudo-random length oscillations containing a specially designed set of seven frequencies from 0.07 to 2.4 Hz at baseline, during methacholine (MCh) challenge, and after death of the interstitial cells. Measurements were made at mean forces of 0.5 and 1 g and strain amplitudes of 5, 10, and 15% and were repeated 12 h later in the same, but nonviable samples. The results were interpreted using a linear viscoelastic model incorporating both tissue damping (G) and stiffness (H). The G′ and G" increased linearly with the logarithm of frequency, and both G and H showed negative strain amplitude and positive mean force dependence. After MCh challenge, the G′ and G" spectra were elevated uniformly, and G and H increased by