No abstract

Although several investigations have revealed the influence of cytokines, allergy, and environmental factors in polyp development, the etiology of nasal polyps is still unknown. To estimate the biology of this common disease the operative specimens of 50 patients who underwent surgery for polyps of the nasal cavity and the paranasal sinuses were examined; of these, 10 patients had recurrent disease and 23 patients had an allergy. The investigations included routine histology and quantitative DNA measurements, along with immunohistochemical identification of proliferation markers (i.e., MIB-1; proliferating cell nuclear antigen, PCNA). Histologically, most polyps revealed an infiltration with lymphocytes, eosinophilic granulocytes, and plasma cells. Twenty-five percent had a squamous metaplasia of the respiratory epithelium. Quantitative DNA analysis demonstrated diploid stemlines and lack of aneuploid cells with a DNA content exceeding 5c in most cases. Immunohistochemical detection of proliferation markers showed low proliferation rates in all cases. In 27 polyps no MIB-1 expression was detected, and in 7 polyps no PCNA expression was detected. The polyps of the 23 patients with proven allergic diathesis did not reveal higher scores for the parameters of DNA analysis (i.e., ploidy status and percentage of aneuploid cells) and proliferation scores. Nasal polyps of 10 patients with recurrent disease displayed higher scores for proliferation markers, and in five cases aneuploid cells with 5c exceeding rate (5cER) of 1.5-11.7% were detected. According to these results, polyps of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses showed low proliferation scores and were diploid. The data demonstrated that there was no increase of proliferation activity or ploidy shift toward aneuploidy in patients with allergy. Nevertheless, in recurrent disease some increase in proliferation activity and some changes in the parameters of the DNA analysis occurred, indicating more aggressive behavior of recurrent polyps in single cases.

Taylor & Francis has a flexible approach to subscriptions enabling us to match individual libraries' requirements. This journal is available via a traditional institutional subscription (either print with free online access, or onlineonly at a discount) or as part of the Behavioural Science subject package or Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities full text package. For more information on our sales packages please visit www.tandfonline.com/ librarians_pricinginfo_journals. All current institutional subscriptions include online access for any number of concurrent users across a local area network to the currently available backfile and articles posted online ahead of publication. Subscriptions purchased at the personal rate are strictly for personal, non-commercial use only. The reselling of personal subscriptions is prohibited. Personal subscriptions must be purchased with a personal cheque or credit card. Proof of personal status may be requested.