Relationship between infiltrating cells and adhesion molecules in the nasal mucosa of patients with allergic rhinitis.

Antigen-induced changes of cell adhesion molecules and their relationships to infiltrating cells were investigated immunohistochemically in nasal mucosa of perennial allergic rhinitis patients. An increased expression of E-selectin and VCAM-1 was noted on the vascular endothelium of the nasal mucosa 15-25 h after the topical antigen challenge. Although there was no increased expression of ICAM-1, we noted a positive correlation between the expression of E-selectin and ICAM-1. The expression of E-selectin and VCAM-1 as well as ICAM-1 was revealed to be correlated with the number of EG2-positive cells and CD4-positive cells, but not with elastase-positive cells. These findings suggest that all these adhesion molecules play a role in the topical influxes of eosinophils and CD4-positive cells in allergic nasal mucosa.