Background: Airway epithelial cells have a well-accepted role in the regulation of local inflammatory processes in allergic and innate defence responses. However, their role the pathophysiology of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is unclear. The objective was to investigate whether potential differences in the mRNA expression profile of nasal epithelia from healthy individuals and from CRSwNP patients would shed new light on disease mechanisms.
Methods: Primary epithelial cells from nasal polyps of 24 affected individuals and from middle turbinates of 9 healthy controls were obtained using magnetic beat assisted isolation and were used for expression profiling using the Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Genechip Array.
Results: Multiple gene probes corresponding to 27 genes showed an aberrant expression profile in polyp epithelial cells compared to healthy controls. Most of these genes are linked to pathogenic mechanisms seen in neoplasm formation, including changes in cell-cell adhesion, metabolic processes, cell cycle control, and differentiation. Remarkably, our data additionally suggest a role for maternally expressed genes in the pathogenesis of CRSwNP and reveal two distinct states of polyp epithelium that could not be linked to the presence or absence of atopy in patients or to the level of eosinophilia or neutrophilia of the polyp.
Conclusions: Our data suggest new roles for nasal epithelium in the pathogenesis of CRSwNP.