title: Antifungal immune reactivity in nasal polyposis.
abstract: As a fungal etiology has been proposed to underlie severe nasal polyposis, the present study was undertaken to assess local antifungal immune reactivity in nasal polyposis. For this purpose, microbial colonization, along with the pattern of T helper 1 (Th1)/Th2 cytokine production and Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression, was evaluated in patients with nasal symptoms and with and without polyposis and in healthy subjects. The results show that Th2 reactivity was a common finding for patients with nasal polyposis regardless of the presence of microbes. The production of interleukin-10 was elevated in patients with bacterial and, particularly, fungal colonization, while both TLR2 expression and TLR4 expression were locally impaired in microbe-colonized patients. Eosinophils and neutrophils, highly recruited in nasal polyposis, were found to exert potent antifungal effector activities toward conidia and hyphae of the fungus and to be positively regulated by TLR2 or TLR4 stimulation. Therefore, a local imbalance between activating and deactivating signals to effector cells may likely contribute to fungal pathogenicity and the expression of local immune reactivity in nasal polyposis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine and Biochemical Sciences-Microbiology Section, University of Perugia, Via del Giochetto, 06122 Perugia, Italy. pitzurra@unipg.it
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pitzurra
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bellocchio
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nocentini
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonifazi
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scardazza
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gallucci
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Stracci
authors.forename: Costantino
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simoncelli
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bistoni
authors.forename: Luigina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Romani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009298:Nasal Polyps / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology; D010587:Phagocytosis; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C495342:TLR2 protein, human; C495345:TLR4 protein, human; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors