Evidence for distinct cytokine expression in allergic versus nonallergic chronic sinusitis☆,☆☆,★
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Patient selection
The patient selection process, clinical characteristics, and sinus and allergic evaluation for CHS/NP have been previously reported.3 All were adult patients (age range, 18 to 50 years, n = 12) at the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine and were selected on the basis of a history of more than 1 year of chronic perennial sinusitis with one or more of the following symptoms: chronic perennial nasal congestion, chronic rhinorrhea, chronic postnasal drip, anosmia,
Densities of EG2+ eosinophils
The CHS/NP patients were subdivided into an allergic subgroup (n = 5) and a nonallergic subgroup (n = 7) on the basis of the results of allergy skin testing. Both the allergic and nonallergic subgroups of patients with CHS/NP had greater densities of EG2+ eosinophils than controls (p = 0.0005 and 0.001 for allergic and nonallergic CHS/NP versus controls, respectively) as shown in Fig. 1, and in both subgroups this increased density was associated with increased GM-CSF and IL-3 (Fig. 2).
DISCUSSION
In this study, we have demonstrated distinct tissue cytokine expression in patients with allergic versus nonallergic CHS/NP. In both allergic and nonallergic CHS/NP, patients showed increased tissue densities of GM-CSF and IL-3 mRNA+ cells. The expression of these two cytokines correlated strongly with the density of tissue eosinophils in patients with allergic and with nonallergic CHS/NP. It has been previously reported that activated eosinophils produce a variety of cytokines, including both
Acknowledgements
We thank Drs. Barry P. Berlin and Nigel Pashley for assisting in subject recruitment and specimen collection. We also thank Ms. Kristen Moore and Mrs. Phyllis Siracusano for expert preparation of the manuscript and Glaxo Biogen (Geneva) for supplying the cytokine probes.
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Cited by (0)
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From athe Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, and the Department of Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver; and bthe Departments of Medicine and Pathology, McGill University, Meakins-Christie Laboratories, Montreal.
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Supported by grants from the Clinical Investigation Committee of National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, National Institutes of Health Grants AR41256, HL37260, and RR00051, the Montreal Chest Research Institute, and the J.T. Costello Memorial Research Fund.
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Reprint requests: Daniel L. Hamilos, MD, Washington University School of Medicine, Box 8122, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110.