0000000000026229
AUTHOR
Antonella Ballacchino
Notch-1 decreased expression contributes to leptin receptor downregulation in nasal epithelium from allergic turbinates
Abstract BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis is characterized by a remodeling of nasal epithelium. Since the Notch and TGF-β signaling pathways are known to be involved in cell differentiation and remodeling processes and leptin adipokine has already been identified as a marker for homeostasis in human bronchial and nasal epithelial cells of asthmatics, roles played by these pathways have been investigated for chronic allergic rhinitis. METHODS: The leptin/leptin receptor expression has been investigated in a study with 40 biopsies from allergic (AR, n = 18) and non-allergic (C, n = 22) inferior turbinates, using immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence staining and RT-PCR. In addition, extracts …
Fluticasone furoate maintains epithelial homeostasis via leptin/leptin receptor pathway in nasal cells
Leptin is involved in the lung epithelial homeostasis. Its role in the nasal tract is largely unknown. Allergic rhinitis (AR) is induced by the allergen exposure leading to consequential structural abnormalities in the nasal epithelium. Topical corticosteroids are recommended as first-line therapy in AR. Parietaria pollen is one of the most important allergenic sources in the southern Europe. In vitro, in human nasal epithelial cell line RPMI 2650, we aimed to determine whether allergen stimulation acts on leptin/leptin receptor pathway and how fluticasone furoate (FF) influences this pathway. The effects of the major allergen recombinant Par j 1 (rPar j 1), of FF, of leptin, and of TGF-b1 …
Impairment of leptin/leptin receptor pathway in nasal epithelium from allergic turbinates
BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is characterized by a remodeling of nasal epithelium. Leptin adipokine has been already identified as a marker of homeostasis in human bronchial epithelial of asthmatics. TGF-β is a multi-functional cytokine and conflicting findings exist regarding its role in the remodeling responses of the upper airways in allergic rhinitis. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate ex-vivo the expression of leptin/leptin receptor pathway and TGF-β in human nasal epithelium. METHODS: 41 biopsies of inferior turbinates obtained from allergic patients with AR (A, n = 20) and from healthy control subjects (C, n = 21) were analyzed for leptin/leptin receptor and for TGF-β 1, 2, 3 …
Audiologic profile of OSAS and simple snoring patients: the effect of chronic nocturnal intermittent hypoxia on auditory function
The objective of this work was to study the effect of nocturnal intermittent hypoxia on auditory function of simple snoring patients and subjects affected by OSAS; we compared the audiologic profile with the severity of OSAS to detect early signs of cochlear damage. One hundred-sixty patients underwent overnight polysomnography, micro-otoscopy, multi-frequency audiometry, acufenometry, TEOAE recording and d-ROMs test. All subjects were divided in four groups, based on presence/absence of AHI (simple snoring without OSAS, mild OSAS, moderate OSAS, severe OSAS). Sixty (37.5 %) patients were not affected by OSAS, 58 (36.25 %) presented a mild OSAS, 18 (11.25 %) a moderate OSAS and 24 (15 %) a …
Speech perception outcomes after cochlear implantation in prelingually deaf infants: The Western Sicily experience
Objectives: To describe audiometric characteristics and speech perception performances of prelingually deaf Sicilian children after cochlear implantation; to identify the influence of cochlear implant (CI) user and family's characteristics on speech recognition and intelligibility outcomes. Methods: Twenty-eight infants with a congenital or acquired hearing impairment and implanted before the 3rd year of life were studied; all children suffered from bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) with evidence of lack of hearing aids benefit and no evidence of intellectual disability. The study of the main characteristics associated with CI user and family's profile was performed with a clinica…
Increased expression of IL-19 in the epithelium of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps.
Background : Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is an inflammation of the nose and of the paranasal sinuses. The involvement of the respiratory epithelium in the mechanisms of CRS is poorly understood. Aims : Among proteins expressed by nasal epithelial cells in CRS, IL-19 may have key functions. We here aimed to determine the expression and regulation of IL-19. Methods : Nasal biopsies from normal subjects (n = 12), subjects with CRS but without nasal polyps (NP) (CRSsNP, n = 12) and with CRS with NP (CRSwNP, n = 15) were collected. Human Asthma Gene Array and real-time PCR were used to evaluate gene expression, western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry for protein expression. Results for I…