help button home button
AJRCCM
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Pawankar, R. U.
Right arrow Articles by Ra, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Pawankar, R. U.
Right arrow Articles by Ra, C.

Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Vol 152, No. 6, Dec 1995, 2049-2058.

Lymphocyte subsets of the nasal mucosa in perennial allergic rhinitis

RU Pawankar, M Okuda, K Okubo and C Ra
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Nippon Medical School, Japan.

T cells have been considered to play a primary role in IgE-mediated atopic diseases, yet little is known about the T-cell subsets in the nasal mucosa of patients with perennial allergic rhinitis. To elucidate the characteristics of T cells at the site of allergic inflammation, we analyzed the proportions, phenotypes, stages of differentiation, and distribution of T-cell subsets in the nasal mucosa of 15 patients with house-dust-mite perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) and 14 patients with chronic infective rhinitis (CIR), using flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. We also examined the T-cell subsets in the peripheral blood (PBL) in conjunction with those of the nasal mucosa in 10 patients with PAR and in nine patients with CIR. Our results revealed no obvious difference in the percentage of nasal CD3+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and alpha beta T cells in the PAR and CIR patients. In contrast, CD4+ T cells (p < 0.05), CD3+4-8- double-negative T cells, (p < 0.01), and gamma delta T cells (p < 0.01) were significantly increased in the nasal mucosa of PAR patients. A majority of the CD4+ T cells in the nasal mucosa of PAR patients coexpressed the CD45RO surface molecule, and a predominant proportion of CD4+ T cells in the nasal coexpressed the CD45RO surface molecule, and a predominant proportion of CD4+ T cells in the nasal epithelium were CD45RO+. The ratio of CD4+ CD45RO+:CD4+ CD45RA+ T cells in the allergic patients' nasal mucosa was significantly greater than that in autologous peripheral blood (p < 0.01). The proportion and stages of activation and differentiation of T-cell subsets in the allergic patients' nasal mucosa were independent of those in the peripheral blood. An increase in the proportion of natural killer (NK) cells was observed in the nasal mucosa of CIR patients. Taken together, our results suggest that nasal T cells exhibit distinct patterns of distribution, differentiation, and activation in different inflammatory conditions of the nose. PAR is characterized by a selective increase in CD4+ memory T cells, CD3+4-8- double-negative T cells, B cells, and gamma delta T cells in the nasal mucosa. The increase in CD4+ memory T cells in the allergic nasal epithelium may have critical implications in the pathogenesis of PAR.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Immunol.Home page
S. J. Till, L. A. Jopling, P. A. Wachholz, R. L. Robson, S. Qin, D. P. Andrew, L. Wu, J. van Neerven, T. J. Williams, S. R. Durham, et al.
T Cell Phenotypes of the Normal Nasal Mucosa: Induction of Th2 Cytokines and CCR3 Expression by IL-4
J. Immunol., February 15, 2001; 166(4): 2303 - 2310.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Proc. Am. Thorac. Soc. Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol.
Copyright © 1995 American Thoracic Society