Fl. Jahnsen et al., EOSINOPHIL INFILTRATION IS RELATED TO INCREASED EXPRESSION OF VASCULAR CELL-ADHESION MOLECULE-1 IN NASAL POLYPS, American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology, 12(6), 1995, pp. 624-632
Endothelial adhesion molecules are important in the recruitment of leu
kocytes to inflammatory sites. Nasal polyps characteristically contain
a leukocyte infiltrate in which eosinophils often are remarkably prom
inent. We have studied whether this feature is related to a particular
profile of adhesion molecules on the local microvascular endothelium.
Nasal polyps were obtained from 15 patients. Mucosal biopsy specimens
of the lower and the middle turbinate from the same patients as well
as from three control subjects served as reference tissue. Expression
of endothelial adhesion molecules and the relative numbers of eosinoph
ils and neutrophils were examined by two- and three-color immunofluore
scence staining. Both the number of eosinophils and the proportion of
vessels positive for vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) were s
ignificantly increased in nasal polyps compared with the turbinate muc
osa of the same patients (P = 0.008 and P = 0.001, respectively). By c
ontrast, the number of neutrophils and the relative expression of E-se
lectin and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 were similar at both tiss
ue sites. Furthermore, the relative number of eosinophils in nasal pol
yps was well correlated (r, = 0.73, P = 0.006) with the percentage of
vessels positive for VCAM-1, but this was not true for neutrophils. Ta
ken together, this direct in situ observation strongly supports the cr
ucial role suggested for VCAM-1 in human eosinophil extravasation at i
nflammatory sites.