21st Century Rhinology

Abstract

21st century rhinology T wenty-first century rhinology encompasses both medical and surgical treatments of a wide range of diseases and conditions of the nose, paranasal sinuses, and adjacent structures. Now under the leadership of coeditors Rakesh Chandra, M.D., and Raj Sindwani, M.D., as well as Deputy Editor of Allergy Anju Peters, M.D., the American Journal of Rhinology and Allergy, as a leading otorhinolaryngology journal, captures the breath of the field in articles submitted by authors from across the entire world. BASIC SCIENCEAlthough a role for the use of doxycycline has emerged in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis, the mechanisms for the antibiotic's anti-inflammatory effects are poorly understood. Shin et al. 1 examined the effect of doxycycline in an in vitro model of A549 and nasal epithelial cells. They showed that doxycycline inhibited TGF ␤1-induced migration as well as the epithelial to mesenchymal transition.Cigarette smoke adversely impacts sinonasal mucosal function (consistent with its adverse health impacts throughout the body) through various mechanisms. Shin et al. 2 used an in vitro model to examine the impact of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on nasal fibroblasts. They demonstrated that CSE stimulates VEGF expression through its apparent downregulation of TLR4 transcription. Interesting, pretreatment with reactive oxygen species reduced CSE-initiated VEGF expression. The T2R38 bitter taste receptor has a role in innate immunity mechanisms through nitric oxide production. Yan et al., 3 built on this work and established that both T2R4 and T2R16, two additional bitter taste receptors, were expressed in cilia of human epithelial cells and triggered nitric oxide production.