Clinical and Allergic Rhinitis and asthma: are they manifestations of Experimental one syndrome?

摘要

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is the most common atopic disease worldwide and its increasing incidence to epidemic proportions is associated with a reduced quality of life of the patients, lower work productivity and school learning performance as well as increasing medical costs. AR is an IgE-mediated inflammation of the nasal mucosa characterized by an inflammatory infiltrate made up of eosinophils, T cells, mast cells and basophils, which release several mediators, chemokines and cytokines (among these, histamine and cysteinyl-leukotrienes are the major vasoactive mediators), regulation of the local and systemic IgE synthesis, and communication with the immune system and the bone marrow. Systemic circulation of inflammatory cells allows their infiltration into other tissues where chemoattractant and adhesion molecules already exist. Thus, besides local inflammation, AR also triggers a systemic inflammation, which can in turn augment inflammation in both the upper and lower airways. Consequently, AR is linked to other comorbid conditions: asthma, chronic hyper-plastic eosinophilic sinusitis, nasal polyposis and serous otitis media.