Lymphocyte infiltration and thickness of the nasal mucous membrane in perennial and seasonal allergic rhinitis

Culture and IgE Synthesis of Nasal B Cells

“…As previously reported, we observed increased numbers of lymphocytes during the late-phase reaction [8,9], As suming a locally increased IL-4 level in the mucosa after allergen contact and lymphocyte infiltration [7,9,11,31] and because activated T cells are expressing CD40L [32,33] fa vorable conditions for B cell switching and IgE production may exist. Our culture system with IL-4 and anti-CD40 an tibody may at least in part mimic this micro-environment and therefore explain the large amounts of IgE synthesized.…”

“…In earlier studies, nasal B cells were demonstrated direct ly by ELISPOT [26] or by immunohistology [8,13,15,16] but no cultures of nasal B cells have been described. To our own surprise, no contamination problems were encountered even though the nasal mucosa, as a first barrier of defense against infectious agents, is colonized with a substantial flo ra o f potential cell culture contaminants like bacteria and fungi.…”

“…In a second phase, the so-called late phase, symptoms spontaneously re K ARGER © 1996 S. Karger AG, Basel L l \ 1018 2438/96/1III 0077S 10.00/0 li-Mail kargertu karger.ch Fax M l 61 306 12 34 hup: /www.karger.ch cur after 6-24 h in about 50% of the patients. This phase is characterized by tissue eosinophilia [2,7], infiltration of ac tivated (CD25+) CD4+ T helper cells into the nasal mucosa [8,9] and the local synthesis of various cytokines [7,[9][10][11] like interleukin (IL)-l, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 and GM-CSF. Thus a typical Th2-like cytokine environment is created [12].…”

“…Increased T cell numbers in the nasal mucosa are also observed during the pollen season [13,14] thus during re peated exposure to allergen. Some studies also showed the presence of a small cell population positive for B-cell-specific surface markers like CD22 orCD19 in the nasal muco sa [8,13,15,16], But even though allergen-specific IgE anti bodies are known to play a central role for the induction of allergic symptoms, available data do not suggest a direct role of these B cells [13,15,17], It is also not known if nasal B cells are directly or indirectly influenced by allergens and/or other factors promoting IgE switching and IgE syn thesis already at the site of allergen entry.…”

Rhinitis and asthma: Evidence for respiratory system integration

“…45,46 One element of lower airway tissue pathology in asthma, airway remodeling, is not so evident in the nasal mucosa of individuals with allergic rhinitis. Calderon et al 47 reported that the thickness of the nasal epithelium in patients with perennial allergic rhinitis was greater than that of patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis and healthy control subjects. Lim et al 48 reported different findings: the epithelial thickness in their study was statistically increased over that of healthy control subjects in patients with seasonal, but not perennial, allergic rhinitis.…”