Nasal polyposis: role of allergy on therapeutic response of eosinophil- and noneosinophil-dominated inflammation.

BACKGROUND: It is considered that allergy, at least in some cases, is associated with nasal polyps and affects recurrence rate. Our purpose was to determine the effects of aeroallergen hypersensitization on therapeutic response of eosinophil- and noneosinophil-dominated inflammation.

METHODS: Sixty-eight patients were enrolled. Histopathological investigation and a skin-prick test were done and categorized as eosinophil-dominated inflammation with positive (ESPT+) or negative skin test (ESPT-) and nonesoinophil-dominated inflammation with positive (NESPT+) or negative skin test (NESPT-). Patients were treated over 6 weeks with budesonide nasal spray, 400 microg/day. At 0, 3, and 6 weeks after treatment, nasal symptoms, polyp size, nasal and oral peak expiratory flow (PEF) index and overall assessment within and between groups were evaluated and compared.

RESULTS: At 3 and 6 weeks after treatment, the ESPT- group showed the most, and the NESPT+ group showed the least therapeutic improvement. In comparing between the positive and negative skin tests in each histopathology, the positive skin tests tended to have less improvement than the negative skin tests in all variables. The differences increased over time and reached statistical significance at 6 weeks in the PEF index and overall assessment of eosinophil-dominated inflammation (p = 0.004 and 0.033, respectively) and in sneezing score, postnasal drip score, and overall assessment of noneosinophil-dominated inflammation (p = 0.019, 0.035, and 0.013, respectively).

CONCLUSION: Nonallergic eosinophilic polyps had the best and allergic noneosinophilic polyps had the worst therapeutic response. Within each histopathology, allergic nasal polyps had less therapeutic response than nonallergic nasal polyps. This augmented effect could be caused by concomitant allergic inflammation.