QUANTIFICATION OF RESIDENT INFLAMMATORY CELLS IN THE HUMAN NASAL-MUCOSA

Background: To define the normal resident inflammatory cell population in the nasal mucosa, surgical specimens of human nasal turbinates were immunohistologically stained for various cell markers. Methods: Freeze-dried paraffin-embedded sections were stained for lymphocyte cell-surface markers, and Carnoy's fixed sections were stained for mast cells and immunoglobulins. The numbers of stained cells were microscopically counted. Results: T cells (CD3+ cells) were abundant in the lamina propria, and the number of CD4+ cells and CD8+ cells accounted for two thirds and one third of CD3+ cell number, respectively. Cells that stained for the alpha-chain of the interleukin-2 receptor (activated cells, CD25+) were limited and accounted for only 0.6% of CD3+ cell number. B cells (CD22+ cells) and monocytes and macrophages (CD14+ cells) were observed less frequently than T cells. Many immunoglobulin-producing cells were found in close proximity to the submucosal glands, and those cells were predominantly IgA+. Mast cells were widely distributed in the nasal mucosa, and about one third of these cells were stained for IgE molecules. Nonmast cells bearing IgE were rarely observed Conclusion: Thus the dominant cell in the nasal mucosa is a CD3+, CD4+, CD25-lymphocyte.