Bronchioles

The primary bronchi, in each lung, which are the left and right bronchus, give rise to secondary bronchi. These in turn give rise to tertiary bronchi (tertiary meaning third).

The tertiary bronchi subdivide into the bronchioles (respiratory bronchioles). They are histologically distinct from the tertiary bronchi in that their walls do not have hyaline cartilage and they have club cells in their epithelial lining. The epitheliumstarts as a simple ciliated columnar epithelium and changes to simple ciliated cuboidal epithelium as the bronchioles decreases in size.

The diameter of the bronchioles is often said to be less than 1 mm, though this value can actually range from 5 mm to 0.3 mm. As stated, these bronchioles do not have hyaline cartilage to maintain their patency. Instead, they rely on elastic fibers attached to the surrounding lung tissue for support. The inner lining (lamina propria) of these bronchioles is thin with no glands present, and is surrounded by a layer of smooth muscle.

As the bronchioles get smaller they divide into terminal bronchioles, these bronchioles mark the end of the conducting zone, which covers the first division through the sixteenth division of the respiratory tract. Alveoli only become present when the conducting zone changes to the respiratory zone, from the sixteenth through the twenty-third division of the tract..