Abstract
Amphiregulin is a polypeptide and growth factor. It has been reported that the number of amphiregulin-positive cells is increased in the bronchial mucosa of asthmatic patients. We hypothesized that amphiregulin concentrations are increased in the nasal secretions of Japanese cedar pollinosis patients. We obtained nasal secretions from ten patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis and ten normal subjects in the pollen season in 2006. Both the concentrations of amphiregulin and histamine were measured using ELISA kits. The median of amphiregulin concentration was 317pg/ml in the pollinosis patients and 55pg/ml in the control subjects, with no statistically significant difference between the two groups. The histamine concentration was significantly higher in the pollinosis patients than in the control subjects. The amphiregulin concentration was positively correlated with the histamine concentration.
