IMPORTANCE The counterintuitive decrease of exhaled nitric oxide (NO) levels in a severe inflammatory disorder like cystic fibrosis (CF) is only scarcely understood. Because NO is important in a variety of regulatory processes in the lung, including host defense, inflammation, and bronchomotor control, it is necessary to search for clarifying mechanisms. OBJECTIVES To explore whether fraction...

BACKGROUND Nasal polyps are benign mucosal protrusions into the nasal cavity of multifactorial origin and are characterized by chronic mucosal inflammation. They result from the prolapsed lining of the ethmoid sinuses and block the nose to a variable degree depending on their sizes. This study aims to evaluate the clinical profile and management of nasal polyposis as seen in Ibadan, Nigeria. ME...

BACKGROUND There are indications that polyposis is somehow related to allergic phenomena. Fungal sensitization in substantial proportions of patients has been cited as a trigger of inflammatory mechanisms involving either an immunoglobulin (Ig) E-mediated reaction to fungal colonization or fungal invasion of tissues. OBJECTIVE To confirm whether fungi were involved in the development of polyp...

Background: Nasal obstruction is a common problem in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Systematic evaluation of nasal obstruction remains challenging due to the high number of variables and factors that contribute to nasal obstruction. Nasal examination by means of anterior rhinoscopy is limited to the evaluation of anterior septal deviation, internal nasal valve angle, and inferior ...

nasal obstruction) were recorded before challenge and every 15 minutes after challenge initiation. For the evaluation of nasal obstruction, we used visual analog scales (VASs); subjects marked a site on a 10-cm line corresponding to the symptom severity on which absence of symptoms was designated as 0 and worst imaginable symptom as 10. PIFR was measured using an In-check flow meter and nasal r...

Endogenously produced anti-microbial peptides beta-defensins and nitric oxide (NO) are important components of the immune response. When this response is disturbed it can have damaging consequences. Nasal polyposis, a common disorder, is an example of such immune dysregulation. In order to establish the possible role of human beta defensin-2 (hBD-2), human beta defensin-3 (hBD-3) and NO in the ...

Since the last decade, new insights into inflammatory processes have become possible by investigating the pattern of cytokines in acute and chronic sinus diseases. This review aims to update and discuss the findings of in vitro and in vivo studies concerning the role of cytokines in sinusitis and nasal polyposis. The proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6 and the neutrophil-...