ROLE OF TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR AND GRANULOCYTE-MACROPHAGE COLONY-STIMULATING FACTOR IN THE LATE ALLERGIC RESPONSE IN HUMAN NASAL MUCOSE

Cytokines play an integral role in the allergic response of the nasal mucosa, The ideal model for analysis of this interaction has yet to be perfected. We present a model for such evaluation and present results of experiments on the release of several cytokines, Freshly harvested human nasal turbinate mucosa was placed on a Gelfoam (Upjohn Co., Kal amazoo, Mich,) raft in a liquid medium to simulate the in situ environ ment, The allergic response was initiated by exposing the nasal mucosa to various combinations and amounts of human immunoglobulin E and ant ihuman immunoglobulin E antibody, The supernatants were collected and analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay techniques for various c ytokines, Histopathologic evaluation of the mucosa was performed throu ghout the exposure period, confirming normal cellular and tissue archi tecture and viability, This model was used to monitor the release of i nterleukin-3, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors aft er exposure to immunoglobulin E and immunoglobulin E antibody, Interle ukin-3 did not show significant increases during the experiment testin g period of 48 hours, Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and soluble tumor ne crosis factor receptors demonstrated time-dependent increases in conce ntration after immunoglobulin E stimulation, Granulocyte-macrophage co lony-stimulating factor showed the greatest time-dependent increases. Their impact on the understanding of the allergic response will be dis cussed.