title: Concentration, distribution and expression of interleukin-5 in human nasal polyp tissues.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the concentration, distribution and expression of IL-5 in nasal polyp tissues and explore its significance in micro-environment differentiation of eosinophil accumulation.
  
  
  METHODS
  The concentration and expression of IL-5 in nasal polyp tissues of 40 patients were determined by ELISA and immunohistochemistry and inferior turbinate mucosa from patients with nasal polyps and healthy volunteers were used as control.
  
  
  RESULTS
  IL-5 concentration in polyp tissues was significantly higher than that in turbinate mucosa (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the turbinate mucosae between patients with nasal polyps and healthy volunteers (P > 0.05). IL-5 concentrations in polyp tissues were markedly higher in patients with allergic rhinitis compared with those without (P < 0.05). IL-5 concentrations had no correlation with age and sex (P > 0.05). 80.1% of the eosinophils were positive for IL-5 and 90.9% of IL-5 positive cells were eosinophils. Only 3.7% of lymphocytes and neutrophils were positive for IL-5; IL-5 was not detectable in epithelial cells. IL-5 expression in eosinophils of polyp tissues was remarkably stronger than that of the turbinate mucosa (P < 0.05); there was no significant difference in the the turbinate mucosae between patients with nasal polyps and healthy volunteers (P > 0.05). IL-5 expression of eosinophils in polyp tissue was significantly stronger in patients with allergic rhinitis compared with those without (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in IL-5 expression in lymphocytes and neutrophils between polyp tissues and turbinate nasal mucosa (both P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IL-5 is the key cytokine in eosinophilic pathologic mechanisms in nasal polyp tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China. yinxy@gzsums.edu.cn
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Minqiang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Geng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Gehua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shufang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000032:analysis*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000737:chemistry; D009298:Nasal Polyps / Q000276:immunology*; D014420:Turbinates / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D015848:Interleukin-5