β ADRENERGIC FUNCTION ON NASAL MUCOSA OF THE PATIENTS WITH ALLERGIC RHINITIS

Abstract

Our purpose of this study was to investigate β adrenergic function on the nasal mucosa of the patients with allergic rhinitis who showed positive skin test, positive provocation test, and eosinophilia in their nasal secretion.
A small curette was used for this investigation to scrape off mucous blanket of the mucosa of the inferior turbinate.
³H-DHA was used to estimate binding values of β adrenergic receptors on the cells of the epithelial layer.
The maximum binding value, 78.3±33.7 (mean±SEM), was not significantly lower than that of polymorphonucleocytes or monocytes in the peripheral blood of the normal subjects.
Cyclic AMP levels in the cells were measured using radioimmunoassay. The level of cyclic AMP incubated with 2×10^-5M of 1-isoproterenol was about four times higher than that of cyclic AMP without 1-isoproterenol. This responsiveness to 1-isoproterenol was almost equal to that of peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients of non-allergic rhinitis.
From the results obtained, we consider that β adrenergic function of the cells the epithelial layer of the nasal mucosa from patients with allergic rhinitis is not significantly reduced when compared with non allergic subjects.