title: Changes of glucocorticoid receptor expression in the nasal polyps of patients with chronic sinusitis following treatment with glucocorticoid.
abstract: Glucocorticoids (GCs) bind to the cellular glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) to exert anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive actions. We investigated the changes in the expressions of the two GR isoforms, GR-alpha and GR-beta, in nasal polyps treated with GC. Immunofluorescent staining revealed prominent expression of GR-alpha in the inflammatory cell infiltrate in the polyps obtained from patients with chronic sinusitis and bronchial asthma. Furthermore, while the expression of GR-alpha was significantly reduced following GC treatment, that of GR-beta remained unchanged. The results of real-time PCR also revealed that the prominent expression of GR-alpha mRNA in the polyps decreased following GC treatment, while the expression of GR-beta mRNA remained unchanged. The observations indicate that GR-alpha may play the major role in the inflammation associated with nasal polyps and the ratio of the expression level of GR-beta to that of GR-alpha may serve as a useful index of the clinical efficacy of GC treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Showa University, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8666, Japan.
authors.forename: So
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Harumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D001623:Betamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002452:Cell Count; D002908:Chronic Disease; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008875:Middle Aged; D009298:Nasal Polyps / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid; C411470:glucocorticoid receptor alpha; C121943:glucocorticoid receptor beta; D001623:Betamethasone