HSP70 is associated with the severity of inflammation in chronic rhinosinusitis

Background Nasal secretions include cytokines and inflammatory mediators that are involved in the pathogenesis of upper airway inflammation. Objective We tried to find unknown biomolecules that are involved in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Methods We collected nasal mucosal secretions from patients who were diagnosed as having CRS and who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery. A total of 63 patients who underwent nasal secretion collection were reviewed. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed by using nasal lavage samples to evaluate which biomolecules were associated with the severity of inflammation based on the Lund-Mackay score. By using human nasal epithelial cells, we performed Western blot, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to evaluate the secretory mechanism of heat shock protein (HSP) 70. Results We found that the level of interleukin 8 and HSP70 were significantly associated with the Lund-Mackay score and interleukin 17C, C-X-C motif chemokine 10, and HSP27 were not significantly associated. HSP70 was also significantly associated with the surgical outcome of the enrolled patients. Furthermore, we found that exposure to hypoxia and treatment of lipoteichoic acid induced the secretion of HSP70 but that lipopolysaccharide did not induce the secretion of HSP70 in human nasal epithelial cells. Conclusion Our findings indicated that HSP70 might play a role in the pathogenesis of CRS and the possibility of HSP70 as a biomolecule that represents the severity of CRS.