title: Classification of non-allergic rhinitis based on inflammatory characteristics.
abstract: The study aims to investigate nasal and lower airway inflammation in patients with non-allergic rhinitis (NAR), and to discuss a method of NAR classification based on inflammatory characteristics and its clinical significance. A total of 117 NAR patients admitted to our hospital from June 2010 to June 2011 were enrolled in this study, 162 healthy participants were employed as healthy controls. Nasal and lower airway inflammation were evaluated using the skin prick test, nasal and pulmonary visual analogue scale scoring, cell blood count, nasal douche, induced sputum assay, nasal provocation test, and bronchial provocation test. Compared to the healthy controls, NAR patients have significant higher levels of nasal douche eosinophils, more induced sputum eosinophils as well as blood eosinophils, and higher rates of nasal and bronchial provocation. Patient with high level of eosinophil in nasal douch tended to be with higher concentrations of eosinophils in induced sputum. Scores on the nasal and bronchial provocation tests are also correlated to each other. Among all NAR patients, 28 cases (23.9%) were with no abnormality detectable by eosinophil measurement or a provocation test, 39 cases (33.3%) were with elevated levels of eosinophils, and 50 cases (42.7%) exhibited a nasal provocation response. Based on this, all studied NAR cases were classified into 3 groups: non-specific type (group A, 28/117), increased eosinophil type (group B, 39/117), and hyper-reactive type (group C, 50/117). Some NAR cases may be considered as systemic inflammatory disease characterized by increased nasal eosinophil and nasal hyperreactivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Clinical School of Medical College, Nanjing University Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Yi
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Clinical School of Medical College, Nanjing University Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Man-Jie
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Clinical School of Medical College, Nanjing University Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Clinical School of Medical College, Nanjing University Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: You
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Clinical School of Medical College, Nanjing University Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Xin-Ju
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical College Guangzhou 440100, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical College Guangzhou 440100, China.
authors.forename: Nan-Shan
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Clinical School of Medical College, Nanjing University Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Qiu-Ping
authors.initials: QP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Clinical School of Medical College, Nanjing University Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: Non-allergic rhinitis; bronchial provocation; induced sputum; nasal douche; nasal provocation; skin prick test