Novel roles for nasal epithelium in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.

BACKGROUND: Airway epithelial cells have a well-accepted role in the regulation of local inflammatory processes in allergic and innate defence responses. However, their role the pathophysiology of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is unclear. The objective was to investigate whether potential differences in the mRNA expression profile of nasal epithelia from healthy individuals and from CRSwNP patients would shed new light on disease mechanisms. METHODS: Primary epithelial cells from nasal polyps of 24 affected individuals and from middle turbinates of 9 healthy controls were obtained using magnetic beat assisted isolation and were used for expression profiling using the Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Genechip Array. RESULTS: Multiple gene probes corresponding to 27 genes showed an aberrant expression profile in polyp epithelial cells compared to healthy controls. Most of these genes are linked to pathogenic mechanisms seen in neoplasm formation, including changes in cell-cell adhesion, metabolic processes, cell cycle control, and differentiation. Remarkably, our data additionally suggest a role for maternally expressed genes in the pathogenesis of CRSwNP and reveal two distinct states of polyp epithelium that could not be linked to the presence or absence of atopy in patients or to the level of eosinophilia or neutrophilia of the polyp. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest new roles for nasal epithelium in the pathogenesis of CRSwNP.

Dendritic Cell Subsets in Oral Mucosa of Allergic and Healthy Subjects.

Immunohistochemistry was used to identify, enumerate, and describe the tissue distribution of Langerhans type (CD1a and CD207), myeloid (CD1c and CD141), and plasmacytoid (CD303 and CD304) dendritic cell subsets in oral mucosa of allergic and non-allergic individuals. Allergic individuals have more CD141+ myeloid cells in epithelium and more CD1a+ Langerhans cells in the lamina propria compared to healthy controls, but similar numbers for the other DC subtypes. Our data are the first to describe the presence of CD303+ plasmacytoid DCs in human oral mucosa and a dense intraepithelial network of CD141+ DCs. The number of Langerhans type DCs (CD1a and CD207) and myeloid DCs (CD1c), was higher in the oral mucosa than in the nasal mucosa of the same individual independent of the atopic status.