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Bronchus function
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The bronchus does not do anything magical: its main job is to serve as a passageway. Like the rest of what is called the conducting zone, which is the part of the airway where air only passes through, the bronchus lets air move in and out of each lung.
And it does something else while the air goes by: its mucous membrane, the moist layer that lines it on the inside, traps debris and pathogens, meaning microbes that could cause harm. The bronchioles, the finer tubes that come next, have muscular walls without cartilage, and that wall can change the size of the tube and let more or less air through. Think of the bronchus as the stretch of pipe with cartilage and of the bronchiole as the muscular valve that opens or closes the passage.
In brief
The bronchus, like the rest of the conducting zone, mainly serves as a passageway for air moving in and out of each lung.
Its mucous membrane also traps debris and pathogens.
Unlike the bronchus, bronchioles have muscular walls without cartilage, and those walls can change the size of the tube to increase or decrease airflow.
The bronchus is the stretch of pipe with cartilage, and the bronchiole is the muscular valve that opens or closes the flow of air.
Sources (1)
- OpenStax, Rice UniversityAnatomy and Physiology 2e, 22.1 Organs and Structures of the Respiratory SystemPublished
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