Antimicrobial peptide LL-37 is upregulated in chronic nasal inflammatory disease.
OBJECTIVE
LL-37 is one of the antimicrobial peptides and the only member of the cathelicidin family identified so far in humans. We attempted to find a correlation between LL-37 peptide and inflammation of the nasal mucosa.


METHODS
Nasal mucosa specimens were obtained from 15 chronic infective rhinitis patients and 6 normal controls. Immunohistochemical staining was used to examine the localization of LL-37 and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the levels of LL-37, IL-1beta and IL-8 in tissue.


RESULTS
LL-37 peptide was primarily localized in the surface of the epithelia, in the serous and mucous cells of the submucosal glands and in stromal inflammatory cells. The number of LL-37 immunoreactive cells in inflammatory nasal mucosa was significantly increased compared with normal nasal tissue. Using RT-PCR, LL-37 mRNA was detected in 3/6 normal turbinate samples but in all cases with inflammatory nasal tissues. IL-1beta and IL-8 transcripts exhibited a similar pattern to that of LL-37.


CONCLUSIONS
We suggest that LL-37 is one of the antimicrobial peptides found in human nasal mucosa and that it participates in the innate immune system of the nasal mucosa.
Kim
Seon Tae
ST
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Gil Medical Center, Gachon Medical School, Inchon, South Korea. rhinokim2002@hanmail.net
Cha
Heung Eog
HE
Kim
Dong Young
DY
Han
Gyu Cheol
GC
Chung
Yoo-Sam
YS
Lee
Young Jae
YJ
Hwang
You Jin
YJ
Lee
Heung-Man
HM
D000328:Adult; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000235:genetics*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D054804:Cathelicidins; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics*; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000276:immunology*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000235:genetics
D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D054804:Cathelicidins; D016207:Cytokines