POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION IN-SITU OF MESSENGER-RNA EXPRESSION OF IL-6, AND IL-12, AND THE CHEMOTACTIC CYTOKINE RANTES IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC SINUSITIS AND POLYPOID DISEASE - CLINICAL RELEVANCE AND RELATION TO ALLERGY

Interleukins 6 (IL-6) and 12 (IL-12), and the chemoattractant chemokin e RANTES were studied in ethmoidal mucosa, using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The 49 patients had chronic sinusitis or n asal/paranasal polyposis, and some also allergy. To the best of our kn owledge, this is the first study that demonstrates RANTES and IL-12 on mRNA level in human sinonasal mucosa in situ. mRNA for IL-6, IL-12 an d RANTES were detected in 2, 8 and 6 patients with chronic sinusitis, respectively, and in mucosa from patients with polyposis a positive ex pression was observed in 4, 14 and 10 cases. There were no statistical ly significant differences. Analysing the entire group of 49 patients, disregarding type of mucosal disease, the number of patients with pos itive RANTES was significantly higher than that for IL-6. Similarly, I L-12 positivity was more frequently expressed than IL-6. mRNA for IL-6 was expressed in only 2 of the allergic patients. The cytokine produc tion studied thus seems to be unrelated to the clinically defined enti ties. There is thus a local production in human diseased sinonasal muc osa of RANTES, as well as of IL-6 and IL-12. The local production of R ANTES is an important prerequisite for recruitment and migration of in flammatory cells into the tissue. IL-12 is a co-stimulator of antigen- specific responses of established T helper 1 (Th1) clones, and regulat es the responsiveness of the clones to a number of T cell growth facto rs. The study supports a shift towards Th1 cells in these disease enti ties.