Local Expression of Mucosal YKL-40; Correlation of YKL-40 with Clinical Manifestations and Immunopathogenesis of Moderate/Severe Persistent Allergic Rhinitis Patients

ABSTRACT

YKL-40 is an important protein that plays a critical role in chronic inflammation in hypersensitivity disease. In this study, the expression of YKL-40 was investigated among patients with moderate/severe persistent allergic rhinitis (M/S PAR), patients with mild (M) PAR and healthy individuals. Moreover, the association between YKL-40 and immunopathogenesis of M/S PAR was meticulously surveyed. For this purpose, surgical samples were tested by real-time polymerase chain reaction to evaluate YKL-40 mRNA expression. The presence and location of YKL-40 protein in the tissue samples were determined by immunohistochemistry. Additionally, we measured the number of eosinophils per field in the tissue samples, blood eosinophils, total serum IgE, specific serum IgE, total nasal syndrome score (TNSS) and YKL-40 serum levels. The data indicated that production of YKL-40 in patients with M/S PAR increased significantly when compared with the control group. Furthermore, local production of YKL-40 correlated with specific IgE, nasal eosinophil count and TNSS. The results of the present study indicate that YKL-40, for its correlation with allergic clinical manifestations and symptom severity in M/S PAR patients, should be considered as a trigger factor in AR.

KEYWORDS:

• YKL-40
• TNSS
• disease severity
• allergic rhinitis
• M/S PAR

Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Research Deputy of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences. A total of USD 4,000 was allocated for this research (grant #1392-01-74-1796). The authors are grateful to the staff of the Cellular and Molecular Research Center at Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences and the patients and their families for their cooperation.

Disclosures

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, grant no. [1392-01-74-1796].