Methods: We collected samples from February to April, at the time of JCP dispersion. Subjects were SAR-JCP patients (SAR-JCP group), subjects who had positive specific IgE against JC pollen but no symptoms (Sensitization group) and controls without any allergic symptoms and no elevated IgE to common environmental allergens (control group). Total RNA was extracted from nasal epithelial cells by brushing inferior turbinate and performed microarray analysis with Illumina Human Ref8 BeadChip arrays.
Results: Microarray analysis revealed that the expressions of 16 genes were significantly altered in nasal epithelial cells during allergen exposure. Among these 16 genes, four genes including ITLN1(intelectin1) were significantly up-regulated during pollen seasons. Experiment using human nasal epithelial cells revealed that intelectin1 expression was induced by IL-4 and IL-13 stimulation.
Conclusions: The present study identified alteration of genes during natural allergen exposure in patients with SAR-JCP, which may further elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying SAR