Vasomotor rhinitis (VR) is a chronic disease of the nasal mucosa that occurs due to impaired neurovegetative and endocrine regulation of vascular tone. The pathogenesis of vasomotor rhinitis is not fully understood; it is believed to be caused by dysregulation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, leading to inflammation of the nasal mucosa.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the role of proinflammatory (TNF-α, IL-1, IL-8) and anti-inflammatory (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokines in chronic vasomotor rhinitis.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A total of 88 participants were examined: patients with chronic VR (VR group, n=42) and apparently healthy blood and nasal secretion donors (control group, n=46). Venous blood and nasal secretions were used for the study. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-4, IL-8, and IL-10 in the blood and nasal secretions were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on a Multiskan FC immunoassay analyzer (Thermo Fisher Scientific Instruments Co., Ltd., USA). Statistical analysis of the study results was performed using the Statistica 10.0 software package. The sample was described using the median and interquartile range (25th and 75th percentiles). Normality of distribution was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov method, with a significance level of p<0.05.
RESULTS
The median IL-1 level (1.65 pg/ml) in serum in VR patients was 5.7 times lower than the median in the control group, while the median IL-8 level (0.94 pg/ml) was 10.1 times lower. No statistically significant differences were found between the VR and control groups for TNF-α, IL-4, and IL-10 levels. The median IL-1 level (19.6 pg/ml) in VR patients was 22.8 times higher than in the control group. In nasal washes, the median IL-8 level was 24.5 times higher than the median in the control group, reaching 38.7 pg/ml. The median TNF-α, IL-4, and IL-10 levels in the VR group did not differ statistically significantly from the medians of these cytokines in the control group.
CONCLUSION
The study revealed low levels of IL-1 and IL-8 in the blood and high levels in nasal secretions in patients with vasomotor rhinitis. No statistically significant differences were found in the levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10. The contrasting changes in the levels of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1 and IL-8 in vasomotor rhinitis may indicate a lack of a leading role for cytokines in the pathogenesis of this condition.
