Eosinophil cationic protein and myeloperoxidase in nasal secretion as markers of inflammation in allergic rhinitis

Abstract

The inflammatory component of allergic rhinitis was studied by measuring the concentration and content of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP, specific for eosinophils) and myeloperoxidase (MPO, specific for neutrophils) in samples of nasal secretion from 20 pollen-allergic subjects. All secretion samples contained measurable concentrations of both proteins. The mean ECP concentrations on two occasions without pollen exposure were 950 and 1170 micrograms/l. The ECP concentration during the pollen season without any therapy (mean 1160 micrograms/l) did not differ significantly from the baseline values, but intranasal corticosteroid therapy resulted in a significant decrease (mean 530 micrograms/l). The concentration of MPO was about 10 times higher than that of ECP, but the changes in MPO were nonsignificant throughout the observation period. An inverse correlation was found between the threshold dose in histamine challenges and the ECP level expressed either as concentration or as content. Furthermore, the ECP concentration and content 1 day after a positive allergen challenge were both significantly correlated with the strength of the challenge reaction. Measurements of ECP in nasal secretions are useful for studying the presence and activity of eosinophils in the nasal mucosa, and may prove of value in clinical investigations on patients with allergic rhinitis.

Prevalence of Serum IgE Antibodies to the <i>Staphylococcus aureus </i>Enterotoxins (SAE, SEB, SEC, SED, TSST-1) in Patients with Persistent Allergic Rhinitis

“…ECP is considered a useful parameter of eosinophil activation, as it is increased in serum biologic fluids of patients with allergic diseases [29], and provides a reliable indication of the severity of asthma and/or rhinitis [25, 26, 31, 32]. Our data seem to indicate that the presence of SAE IgE in serum may be linked to the clinical severity of patients allergic to HDMs.…”

“…Oehling et al [22]demonstrated IgE-dependent potentiation of histamine release against D. pteronyssinus extract with bacterial antigens in bronchial asthma. In addition, recent data suggest that SAEs have profound effects on human eosinophils, in terms of eosinophil apoptosis inhibition and cell surface antigen expression modulation [31]. Moreover, the involvement of eosinophil was previously demonstrated [23, 33, 34]in terms of IL-5, eotaxin and cysteinyl leukotriene production in polyp samples from patients suffering from asthma and/or aspirin sensitivity.…”

Measurement of Inflammatory Mediators of Mast Cells and Eosinophils in Native Nasal Lavage Fluid in Nasal Polyposis

“…It is well known that activated eosinophils are involved in NP [33, 34]. Accordingly, ECP levels were increased in nasal lavage fluids and were also correlated with the symptom score, unlike eosinophil counts.…”

Localization of eosinophil-derived neurotoxin and eosinophil cationic protein in neutrophilic leukocytes

“…Thus, antibodies to MBP have been used to localize eosinophils and to detect eosinophil degranulation in tissues from patients with diseases such as asthma [4], atopic dermatitis [25], vernal keratoconjunctivitis [26], and urticaria [14]. EDN and ECP have been regarded as eosinophil specific granule proteins, and assays for EDN and ECP have been used to monitor the role of eosinophils in allergic rhinitis [27][28][29][30], asthma [31][32][33][34], IgE-mediated late-phase cutaneous reactions [13], celiac and Crohn's diseases [35], idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis [36], and atopic dermatitis [37].…”