Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Yamamoto, H
• Okamoto, Y
• Horiguchi, S
• Kunii, N
• Yonekura, S
• Nakayama, T

Titel

Short communication: Detection of natural killer T cells in the sinus mucosa from asthmatics with chronic sinusitis

Ist Teil von

• Allergy (Copenhagen), 2007-12, Vol.62 (12), p.1451

Ort / Verlag

Zurich: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2007

Quelle

Wiley Online Library - AutoHoldings Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Chronic sinusitis (CS) with asthma generally exhibits a high degree of sinus tissue eosinophilia and recurrence often occurs even after surgical therapy. However, the cause has not yet been fully clarified. To elucidate the pathogenesis of this refractory disease, we examined the infiltration of natural killer T (NKT) and type 1 helper T (Th1)/type 2 helper T (Th2) cells, and the cytokine expression in the sinus mucosa. Sinus mucosal specimens were obtained surgically from 16 CS patients with nasal polyps. The NKT cells, Th1/Th2 cells and the expression of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and IFN-γ were examined by a polymerase chain reaction or flow cytometry. Nasal mucosal specimens from six other patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) were examined in a similar manner. The NKT cells were detected to varying degrees in the sinus mucosa from asthmatic CS patients, but neither in the nonasthmatics nor in the nasal mucosa from the patients with AR. The Th2 cells and Th2 cytokines were expressed at significantly higher levels in the sinus mucosa from the CS patients with asthma in comparison to those without asthma. However, the Th1 cell infiltration and IFN-γ expression were not different between these groups. Natural killer T cells may, therefore, play important roles in the enhanced Th2 cytokine expression and increased infiltration of Th2 cells and eosinophils observed in the sinus mucosa from asthmatic CS patients through MHC-independent mechanisms. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]