[Relationship between levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1, interleukin-6 and airway hyperresponsiveness in patients with allergic rhinitis].

Objective To investigate the relation between levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1, interleukin-6 and airway hyperresponsiveness in patients with allergic rhinitis. Methods Fifty-four patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) and 20 controls were included in the study. The levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1 ) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in nasal lavage fluid, gathered 1 hour after specific allergen nasal provocation test (SANPT) , were detected by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. The pulmonary function (FEVl) and nonspecific bronchial provocation test were measured in 54 patients with AR, 36 patients with AR and bronchial asthma (BA) and 20 controls. At the same time, the correlation between levels of ICAM-1 and IL-6 in nasal lavage fluid and pulmonary function (FEV1) was studied. Results The levels of ICAM-1 and IL-6 in nasal lavage fluid from patients with AR were (272.75±32. 25)pg/ml and(52. 11±16. 54)pg/ml, significantly higher than those the controls, which were (158. 82±33. 88) pg/ml and ( 25. 64±10. 14) pg/ml ( P 0. 01). The pulmonary function (FEV1) in patients with AR and BA was (78. 82 ±7. 41) %. It was obviously lower than that in patients with AR [ (83. 90±4. 87 ) % ] , much lower than that in normal controls [ (90. 25 ±4. 69) % ] . The difference among them was significant. In patients with AR, the positive percentage of bronchial provocation test was 64. 81% , in patients with AR and BA, it was 83. 33% in normal controls, it was 0. The differences among them had very significant meaning. The levels of ICAM-1 and IL-6 in nasal provocation fluid had closely negative correlation with pulmonary function ( FEV1 ) , r = - 0. 7071, - 0. 6248, P 0. 01. Conclusions The close correlation was observed in upper and lower airway for allergic inflammation. The pulmonary function of patients with AR was lower, and 64. 8% of them had airway hyperresponsiveness, so that they had the potent possibility to have bronchial asthma.