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We aimed to study Th1/Th2 cell balance by measuring the levels of cytokines IL-4, IL-10, and IFN-γ, which play an important role in the immune response of patients with allergic rhinitis and/or nasal polyps, and determine the correlation between Th1/Th2 cell balance and 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3), an active metabolite of vitamin D. The study subjects were 60 adult patients and 40 healthy volunteers. Subjects were separated into three groups: 30 patients diagnosed with nasal polyposis together with allergic rhinitis formed Group I, 30 patients with nasal polyposis but without allergic rhinitis constituted Group II, and 40 healthy volunteers without nasal polyp and/or allergic rhinitis were the control group, or Group III. IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10, and total IgE levels were determined in the serum samples of all patients and vitamin D(3) in their plasma. A statistically significant difference was found between the Group I and the control group in their IgE, IL-4, IL-10, IFN-γ, and vitamin D levels (p < 0.05), while there were no such significant differences between Group II and the control group in these measurements (p > 0.05). Within Group I, vitamin D levels showed a negative correlation with IgE and IL-4 levels, and a positive correlation with IFN-γ (p < 0.05). Within Group II, IgE levels showed a positive correlation with IL-4 and IL-10 levels (p < 0.05) and a negative correlation with IFN-γ levels (p < 0.05). In this study, no significant relation was detected between vitamin D deficiency and nasal polyposis in the absence of allergic rhinitis. The study demonstrates that vitamin D is effective on Th1/Th2 balance in patients with allergic rhinitis and that there is a significant relation between vitamin D deficiency and allergy. These results are compatible with the possibility of an important role of vitamin D in the pathogenesis and degree of severity of allergic disease, and its capacity to control allergic disease.

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The main objective of the study is to evaluate vestibular system of the inner ear with postural tests in the patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX). It is clinical case-control study. The study group included 34 patients with PEX and 40 controls without PEX. The patients and controls underwent complete ophthalmic and otorhinolaryngologic examinations. Vestibular functions were done by Fitzgerald and Dix-Hallpike, caloric tests, Romberg test, tandem Gait test, Quiks test in both control and study groups. Pur-tone and high-frequency audiography were also performed in all cases. The mean patient age was 63 years (+/-11.80) (range 47-74 years) in the PEX group and 65 years (+/-8.70) (range 61-68 years) in the control group with no differences among the two groups (P > 0.05). Although none of the 34 patients with PEX had clinical history of balance disturbance, 21 (61.76%) had significant pathologic sign in vestibular function tests (P < or = 0.05), while only 3 (7.5%) of 40 cases in the control group had pathologic sign in vestibular function tests. The scales from pure tone and high-frequency audiogram in the PEX group were similar to those of the control group. In conclusion, the patients with PEX, there may be a vestibular involvement in the pathological level in the inner ear. Larger clinical studies, experimental animal studies, and post mortem studies in humans are needed to disclose the pathology in the vestibulocochlear system in the patients with PEX.

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