Relation between nasal eosinophilia and airway resistance in patients with persistent rhinitis

Abstract

Background Bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR) is a feature of asthma which can also be found in patients with allergic or nonallergic rhinitis although the exact mechanism is not clear. Objective The aim was to investigate the relationship between nasal eosinophilia and BHR in patients with allergic rhinitis. Patients and methods A total of 26 patients with rhinitis were divided into two groups based on positive exercise challenge test for BHR. Nasal smears and blood samples were obtained to test for nasal eosinophilia and total serum immunoglobulin E, respectively. Results A higher percentage (50%) of patients with BHR demonstrated nasal eosinophilia compared with the group of patients with no BHR (17%). Conclusion This study demonstrates further evidence of the tight relationship between upper and lower respiratory tract in allergic disease.

Keywords

• airway resistance
• allergic rhinitis
• asthma
• bronchial hyper-responsiveness
• exercise challenge test
• immunoglobulin E
• nasal eosinophilia
• nasal smear
• nonallergic rhinitis
• united airway disease