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Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of nasal coblation plasma surgery for the treatment of persistent allergic rhinitis (PAR)., Methods: One hundred patients with mite-sensitized moderate to severe PAR who underwent nasal coblation plasma surgery (inferior turbinoplasty plus nasal agger ablation) were enrolled in this study. There were 68 male and 32 female patients aged 16 to 62 years (mean, 36.3 years). The visual analogue scale (VAS) for global rhinitis symptoms, nasal provocation test (NPT), anterior rhinomanometry, and T&T olfactometry were used to assess the short-term outcomes, preoperatively and postoperatively at the end of three months after surgical procedure. SPSS19.0 software was applied for statistical analysis., Results: At three months after treatment, the total nasal symptom VAS scores significantly decreased from 7.0 ± 2.0 to 2.5 ± 1.5 (X(-) ± s; t = 18.00, P = 0.0001). All patients were allergic to house dust mites with positive NPT before treatment. At three months from the coblation intervention, 88.0% of the patients changed from positive NPT to negative, while 12.0% remained as positive. There was a significant reduction in total nasal resistance, which diminished from 0.772 ± 0.224 to 0.221 ± 0.112 kPa·s·L(-1) after treatment (t = 22.00, P = 0.0001). Preoperative olfactory tests showed hyposmia in 31.0% of the patients, with 22 cases for slight and 9 cases for moderate disorder. Three months after treatment, 13.0% were diagnosed as hyposmia, with 7 cases for slight and 6 cases for moderate disorder (χ(2) = 10.44, P = 0.005)., Conclusion: Nasal coblation plasma surgery provides favorable short-term outcomes in terms of remarkable improvement in nasal symptoms, hyperreactivity of nasal mucosa, nasal flow and olfactory function in patients with moderate to severe PAR, but long-term effect needed further observation.

Objective: To investigate the relationships between the severity of childhood allergic rhinitis (AR) and the peripheral blood eosinophil count, serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), total IgE (tIgE), and allergen-specific IgE (sIgE) levels., Methods: A total of 138 children with AR aged 3 to 17 (9.96 ± 3.78, x() ± s) years old were enrolled in the study. All children had persistent AR sensitized to house dust mites with a clinical history of 3 months to 12 (4.21 ± 2.72) years. The disease severity was evaluated using 10 cm-visual analogue scale (VAS), and the serum levels of ECP, tIgE and sIgE were determined using an ImmunoCAP system. Statistical analysis was conducted with SPSS11.0 software., Results: Among 138 children with AR, the VAS scores for global severity of rhinitis and nasal obstruction symptom were 5.32 ± 2.16 and 4.78 ± 2.45, respectively. Blood eosinophil count was 0.39 [0.24; 0.63] (M[P(25); P(75)]) ×10(9)/ml. Serum levels of ECP and total IgE were 10.60 [3.26; 30.80] µg/L and (2.50 ± 0.53) log kU/L, respectively. Serum levels of allergen-sIgE against Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae were 58.20[24.75; > 100] kUA/L and 54.95 [24.55; > 100] kUA/L, respectively. The VAS scores of nasal obstruction symptom, but not global severity of rhinitis, were positively related to the duration of AR (r = 0.215, P = 0.011) and the levels of serum ECP (r = 0.196, P = 0.022) in bivariate correlation analysis. There was also a significant correlation between the serum ECP level and the blood eosinophil count (r = 0.295, P = 0.000). No relationships of blood eosinophil count, and serum tIgE and sIgE levels with global severity of rhinitis as well as nasal obstruction symptom were found (all P > 0.05)., Conclusions: These results suggested that the severity of nasal obstruction was positively correlated with the duration of rhinitis and the levels of serum ECP in childhood persistent AR due to house dust mites, indicating the disease severity might be related to chronic inflammatory process.

Objective: To analyze and compare the differences of clinical characteristics and comorbidities between patients with non-allergic rhinitis (NAR) and allergic rhinitis (AR)., Methods: A total of 556 out-patients were enrolled from January 2010 to June 2011. The chief complaints of the patients included at least two of the following nasal symptoms: nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, sneezing, and nasal itching. Based on the results of the disease history, physical examination and allergen skin prick test, the patients were classified into NAR group (n = 206) and AR group (n = 350). Detailed information including general data, nasal symptoms and signs, accompanied symptoms and comorbidities were obtained by questionnaires. A scoring was adopted to estimate the severity of disease. SPSS 13.0 software was applied for statistical analysis., Results: The mean age of NAR patients (31.8 ± 16.7) was older than that of AR patients (26.3 ± 14.8), and the difference was significant (t = 4.01, P = 0.0001). While there was no significant difference on gender distribution between two groups (χ² = 0.12, P = 0.73). The percentage of nasal congestion was not significantly different between NAR and AR patients (89.8% and 92.0%, respectively; χ² = 0.26, P = 0.611). However, the symptoms of rhinorrhea, sneezing, nasal itching, eyes itching, lachrymation, wheeze and cough were more popular in AR patients than those in NAR patients (all P < 0.05). Moreover, above symptoms (except cough) were more serious in AR patients, and the symptom scores were significantly higher than those in NAR patients (all P < 0.05). Most of patients with NAR (67.0%) and AR (62.9%) were moderate-severe persistent (χ² = 1.25, P = 0.264). Accompanied asthma were more common in patients with AR (12.6%) compared with NAR (2.4%), while hypertension were more common in patients with NAR (7.3%) compared with AR (1.7%), and the differences were significant (both P < 0.05)., Conclusion: NAR and AR are two different disease entities, which have different clinical characteristics, as well as different comorbidities. Further clinical study should be done on the rhinitis phenotypes.

Objective: To evaluate the correlation of exposure and sensitization to house dust mites among rhinitis patients, and the consistency of skin prick test (SPT) and serum specific IgE (sIgE) in the detection of sensitization in a steppe environment of inner Mongolia., Methods: Three hundreds and fourteen patients with rhinitis symptoms were recruited in this study in a hospital setting at Xilinhot City, inner Mongolia. All patients underwent medical history investigation, anterior rhinoscopy, and allergen tests in vivo (SPT) and in vitro (sIgE). Dust samples were collected from mattresses in patient's bedroom. The concentrations of group I major allergen of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Der p) and Dermatophagoides farinae (Der f) were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Statistical analysis was performed using a SPSS 17.0 software (t test, χ(2) test and so on)., Results: Among a total of 314 patients, the prevalence of positive SPT for Der p and Der f was 5.7% and 22.0%, respectively; and the prevalence of positive sIgE for Der p and Der f was 9.2% and 7.6%, respectively. Sensitization rates for house dust mites (Der p and/or Der f) were lower than those of pollens. The pollen allergen with the highest positive rate was mugwort (SPT, 51.9%; sIgE, 47.1%). Diagnostic tests using SPT as the gold standard for sensitization showed that the positive likelihood ratio of sIgE was 4.27 for Der p and 10.64 for Der f, and the Kappa value was 0.20 for Der p and 0.35 for Der f, respectively. A total of 276 dust samples collected from patient's mattresses were measured. The concentrations of Der p 1 and Der f1 were detectable in 2 (0.7%) and 4 (1.4%) mattress samples, respectively. There was positive correlation between the exposure levels of Derp 1 and the SPT positive reaction to Der p (r(s) = 0.156, P = 0.01), but no significant correlation was found between the exposure levels of Der p 1 and the sIgE positive reaction to Der p (r(s) = 0.116, P = 0.055). There was no significant correlation between the exposure levels of Der f 1 and the SPT as well as sIgE positive reaction to Der f 1(r(s) = 0.05, P = 0.931; r(s) = 0.07, P = 0.245)., Conclusions: In the steppe environment of inner Mongolia, exposure to house dust mites are very low, and the Der p and Der f are not the major allergens in patients with allergic rhinitis. Also, it was not a simple dose-response relationship between exposure and sensitization to house dust mites. In such a specific environment, there is lower consistency between the results of SPT and sIgE in the detection of sensitization to house dust mites. Therefore, it is recommended that the allergen testing in vivo and in vitro should be combined for clinical diagnosis.

Objective: To investigate and describe the differences in age, sex, seasonality distribution, and related environmental factors between patients with non-allergic rhinitis (NAR) and allergic rhinitis (AR)., Methods: One hundred and eleven patients with NAR and 112 patients with AR were enrolled in this study. All patients were first diagnosed in outpatient department between January and August 2010. Questionnaires were distributed to all participants to record the general information, medical history, and the factors relevant to symptom onset. Statistical analysis was performed using a SPSS13.0 software., Results: The proportion of patients with NAR increased with age, compared to patients with AR. The peak age was 21 - 30 years old in patients with NAR, whereas 11 - 20 years old in patients with AR. In adults more than 18 years old, the average age (years, x(-) ± s) of patients with NAR (38.6 ± 14.5) was significantly higher than those with AR (32.8 ± 13.0; t = 2.58, P = 0.024). NAR was more likely to be males before 30 years old, while after 30 years old, it likely to be female predominance. The same case occurred in AR subjects but in their 20 years old. NAR was symptomatically worse in winter (χ(2) = 27.57, P = 0.000), whereas AR worse in spring (χ(2) = 13.75, P = 0.003). The cases of NAR were significantly more than those of AR during the winter season (χ(2) = 12.34, P = 0.000). Among the disease-related environmental factors, living or working place near the traffic artery had 1.94-fold increased risk for development of NAR compared with AR; however, living or working in ground floor or sunshine time less than 2 h per day had 1.77- or 1.91-fold increased risk for development of NAR compared with NAR. Subjects with personal or family history of allergic disease had 2.14 to 4.06-fold increased risk for development of AR compared with NAR. The self-reported predisposing factors in NAR patients were mainly including temperature shift (56.3%), common cold (52.8%), climate change (32.4%), and strong odors (31.1%). However, there were no significant differences in these nonspecific triggers between NAR and AR (all P > 0.05)., Conclusion: There are significant differences in the distribution of age, sex and seasonality, personal and family history of allergic disease, and some environmental factors relevant to the onset of symptom between patients with NAR and AR.

Objective: To investigate the association between the promoter polymorphism -509C/T of the transforming growth factor-β1 gene (TGFB1) and the disease severity of allergic rhinitis (AR) in childhood., Methods: A total of 96 Chinese patients with persistent AR aged 3 - 17 (9.4 ± 3.8) years old were enrolled in the study. Among these patients 53.1% were mild cases (n = 51) and 46.9% were moderate-to-severe cases (n = 45). Genotyping was performed on peripheral blood genomic DNA by using PCR-RFLP. Serum levels of TGF-β1 was measured by ELISA, and serum total IgE, specific IgE and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels were determined using an ImmunoCAP100E system. Statistical analysis was conducted with SPSS11.0 software., Results: Significant differences were found in genotype frequencies for the TGFB1-509C/T polymorphism between mild and moderate-to-severe AR patients (χ(2) = 8.361, P = 0.015). Children with persistent AR bearing the TT genotype of the -509C/T polymorphism had significantly increased risk for moderate-to-severe AR (Fisher's exact test, P = 0.007) compared to children with the CC/CT genotypes. There was no significant association between the -509C/T polymorphism and serum TGF-β1 levels (F = 0.389, P = 0.679); however, serum total IgE (F = 4.210, P = 0.018) and ECP (H = 6.297, P = 0.043) levels were found to be significantly associated with the polymorphism., Conclusion: The results suggest that the TGFB1 gene polymorphism -509C/T may play a potential role in the severity of persistent AR in childhood.

Objective: To study the biological characteristics of cytotoxicity T lymphocyte (CTL) induced by dendritic cell (DC) transfected with the Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 2A (EBV-LMP2A) recombinant adenovirus. To establish nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) animal models expressing LMP2A and investigate the anti-tumor effect of LMP2A specific CTL in vivo., Methods: The mononuclear cells were isolated from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and cultured with the cytokines [granulocyto-monocyte colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha TNF-alpha]. The expression of surface markers on mature DC was detected by fluorescence activated cell sorter FACS. Mature DC were transfected with LMP2A recombinant adenovirus. Under the help of interleukin-2 (IL-2), LMP2A specific CTL were induced by coculturing LMP2A-transfected DC with autologous PBMC. The population of CTL was detected by FACS. NPC animal models were constructed by implanting CNE cells expressing LMP2A subcutaneously into BALB/c nude mice. After intra-tumoral injection of LMP2A specific CTL, the size of tumor was measured. The tumors were removed after 30 d and subjected to histological examination., Results: Mature DC displaying typical characteristics of morphology and phenotype were obtained from monocytes cultured in the medium containing GM-CSF, IL-4 and TNF-alpha. The LMP2A specific CTL induced by transfected DC were composed of mainly CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. The NPC animal models were constructed three weeks after implanting CNE cells. The study in vivo indicated that the tumors treated with LMP2A specific CTL grew slowly compared with control. Tumor volume of treated groups was significantly smaller than that of controls. The histological sections showed local necrosis and infiltration of lymphocyte in tumor tissue., Conclusions: Typically mature DC could be generated in vitro by culturing monocytes with the cytokines. LMP2A-specific CTL could be induced by LMP2A transfected DC in vitro. NPC mice models could be constructed by implanting CNE cells. LMP2A specific CTL could inhibit the growth of implanted tumor and produce an anti-tumor effect in vivo.