This study examines the morphological and physiological changes that occur in canine peripheral airways after hyperpnea with dry air. Peripheral airways were exposed to a 5-min 2,000 ml/min dry air challenge (DAC) at 24, 6, 2, or 1 h before or 60 s after (0 h) the injection of colloidal carbon. After recording the dry air-induced increase in peripheral airway resistance, the lungs were removed and prepared for morphometric analysis (n = 5). Light microscopy revealed that 50% of the airway perimeter appeared damaged at 0, 1, and 2 h after DAC, and repair was evident 6-24 h after the challenge. The average goblet-to-ciliated cell ratio decreased from 0.34 before DAC to 0.15 after DAC and recovered within 24 h. Dry air-induced bronchovascular leakage occurred immediately after DAC and persisted for > or = 24 h. DAC decreased mast cell number only in regions where the mucosa was damaged, and this decrease was inversely correlated with bronchovascular leakage. Finally, leukocyte infiltration was evident 1-2 h after DAC and continued throughout the 24-h period. We conclude that hyperpnea with dry air causes mucosal injury, inflammation, and microvascular leakage and that these dry air-induced effects persist for > or = 24 h after DAC.