title: Antimicrobial peptide LL-37 is upregulated in chronic nasal inflammatory disease.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Gil Medical Center, Gachon Medical School, Inchon, South Korea. rhinokim2002@hanmail.net
authors.forename: Seon Tae
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Heung Eog
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Dong Young
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Gyu Cheol
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Yoo-Sam
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Young Jae
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: You Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Heung-Man
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D054804:Cathelicidins; D016207:Cytokines