The incidence of β-defensin-1, 2, 3 in human healthy and chronically inflamed nasal and tonsillar mucosa

The nasal and tonsillar mucosa are exposed to massive incursions of pathological microorganisms. One of the mechanisms known to prevent an invasion of pathogens is an endogenous synthesis of antimicrobial peptides, which include human beta-defensins-1, 2, 3 (HBD-1, 2, 3). The aim of this study was to demonstrate the occurrence of HBD-1, 2 and 3 in the human nasal mucosa and palatine tonsils in healthy tissues and during chronic inflammation (nasal polyposis with and without the colonization of Staphylococcus aureus and chronic tonsillitis) and to evaluate their incidence under varying conditions. Another target was to compare the occurrence of human beta-defensins in these two different entities; that is, in the nasal mucosa and in the palatine tonsil. It was assumed that the incidence of HBD-1, 2, 3 was lower in tonsils than in nasal mucosa; however, inflamed samples of tonsils and nasal mucosa showed no difference in the production of HBD-1, 2, 3. The presence of all three subfamilies of HBD was significantly lower in nasal polyps with S. aureus positive than in the negative control.