In Vitro Allergen Challenge Upregulates the Expression of Local Vascular Endothelial Adhesion Molecules in the Nasal Mucosa of Allergic Rhinitics

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Background : The increases of inflammatory cells in the nasal lavages and the mucosal tissues hours after antigen challenge in the allergic rhinitics propose the possibility of the corresponding increase of vascular endothelial adhesion molecules. The purpose the this study is to investigate the effect of allergen challenge on the expression of adhesion molecules and their temporal pattern of expression in the nasal mucosa of allergic rhinitis.
Materials and Methods : The inferior turbinate mucosae were taken from 6 patients with perennial allergic rhinitis and cultured in the RPMI 1640 media with relevant antigen(D.farinae) for 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours. The proportion (%) of mucosal vessels expressing endothelial adhesion molecules such as ICAM-1, E-seletin, and VCAM-1 was obtained from the specimens immunostained with ABC-AP method.
Results : The expression of E-selectin, with minimal at baseline, was significantly upregulated 1hour after culture with antigen, reached peak at 4 hour (38.3%), and then returned to baseline at 24 hour. The baseline expression of ICAM-1 was most prominent (48%). The incubation of allergic mucosa with antigen increased the ICAM-1 expression slowly until reaching to the peak level (77%) at 12 hour , and the level was maintained as long as 48 hours. Unlike E-selectin or VCAM-1, ICAM-1 was also expressed on the epithelial cells, especially in the basal cell layer.
Conclusion : The expression of E-selectin showed a characterisctic of rapid induction and decline in the allergic nasal mucsoa. The prominent expression of ICAM-1 on the epithelial cells as well as on the vascular endothelial cells suggests the active role of ICAM-1 in the extravasation of inflammatory cells and also in the transepithelial migration into the nasal secretion.