Abstract
Persistent purulent nasal discharge with numbers of infiltrated cells are seen in patients with non-allergic chronic sinusitis (CS). These infiltrated cells are mainly neutrophils. Recently, IL-8 has been reported to be one of the major mediators inducing neutrophil activation and chemotaxis. In this study, we carried out immunohistochemical examinations of the expression of IL-8 in infiltrated neutrophils in nasal discharge and in the ethmoidal mucosa in CS to investigate the role of IL-8 in neutrophil infiltration in CS. IL-8. was expressed in neutrophils in nasal discharge and in epithelial and nasal gland cells of the ethmoidal mucosa. These results suggest that chemotactic factors in nasal discharge including IL-8 derived from epithelial cells and nasal gland cells attract neutrophils from the mucosa, and the infiltrated neutrophils secrete IL-8, which causes further neutrophil accumulation in nasal discharge in CS.
