Electrophoretic evaluation of nasal discharge in patients with allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis.
BACKGROUND
Allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis are two common diseases that have similar symptoms and physical findings. This study was designed to assess the efficacy of electrophoretic analysis of nasal discharge for the differential diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis.


METHODS
Two different groups of patients with allergic rhinitis (n = 18) and with vasomotor rhinitis (n = 18) diagnosed by current methods and 10 healthy subjects as a control group were included in this study. Component analyses of proteins in nasal wash were made by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.


RESULTS
The mean levels of total protein, 66-kDa proteins and 26-kDa proteins (277.2 +/- 9 microg/mL, 114.5 +/- 9 microg/mL, and 67.0 +/- 4 microg/mL, respectively), in nasal washing samples of patients with allergic rhinitis were found to be higher than in the samples, (222.0 +/- 6 microg/mL, 65.6 +/- 6 microg/mL, and 42.9 +/- 4 microg/mL respectively) obtained from patients with vasomotor rhinitis. The control group showed the lowest rate of these proteins (167.8 +/- 7 microg/mL 34.3 +/- 3 microg/mL, and 25.0 +/- 3 microg/mL, respectively). The differences between mean levels of these proteins in all groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that electrophoretic analysis of nasal discharge can be used for the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis. However, further studies are needed to standardize the technique of nasal wash and to determine the range of proteins in nasal secretions that will confirm the diagnosis.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Gülhane Medical School, Etlik, Ankara, Turkey.
Fuat
F
Tosun
Ilhan
I
Sezen
Mustafa
M
Gerek
Yalçin
Y
Ozkaptan
Mehmet
M
Yapar
Zafer
Z
Calişkaner
Serif
S
Akman
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017817:Nasal Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D011336:Probability; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D012016:Reference Values; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012223:Rhinitis, Vasomotor / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D011506:Proteins