IMMUNOCYTOLOGIC ANALYSIS OF NASAL CELLS OBTAINED BY NASAL LAVAGE - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY WITH A STANDARD METHOD OF CELL IDENTIFICATION

For evaluation of two methods of nasal cell identification, cell morph ology and immunocytologic analysis, nasal lavage was performed in 16 h ealthy subjects and 29 patients suffering from rhinitis. Nasal lavage smears were stained with May-Grunwald-Giemsa (MGG), and cells were ide ntified according to their structure as epithelial cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and metachromatic cells (basophils and mast cells). Immunocytologic analysis was performed with monoclonal antibo dies by the immunoalkaline phosphatase method. The following monoclona l antibodies were used: CK1, EG2, and CD3, which identify epithelial c ells, activated eosinophils, and T lymphocytes, respectively; CD15, wh ich recognizes mature granulocytic cells; and CD14, which reacts with monocytes and macrophages. A significant difference was observed betwe en the two methods in the number of identified epithelial cells, in bo th controls (64.6 +/- 7.8 % with MGG, 14.2 +/- 3.5 % with CK1 analysis ) and patients with rhinitis (56.9 +/- 7.6 % with MGG, 18.2 +/- 3.7 % with CK1 analysis). In contrast, no significant differences were found in eosinophil and neutrophil counts when the two methods were compare d. After nasal allergic provocation, a significant increase in the num ber of eosinophils was observed with both methods in seven patients wi th rhinitis. The results of this study indicate that: 1) MGG staining is a useful method to identify the cells obtained by nasal lavage, and 2) immunocytologic analysis with monoclonal antibodies accurately ide ntifies granulocytic cells, while only a low proportion of epithelial cells are detected, probably because anticytokeratin monoclonal antibo dy reacts only with viable cells.