RESUMO
BACKGROUND: This study analyzes the impact of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins (SAEs) and the inflammatory pattern in polyps from China. METHODS: Nasal tissue was obtained from 27 consecutive bilateral nasal polyps and 15 control patients and assayed for eotaxin, interleukin-5, soluble interleukin-2 receptor, transforming growth factor (TGF) beta, myeloperoxidase, eosinophil cationic protein, total IgE, and specific IgE to SAEs. Activated eosinophils were stained using EG2 antibodies in polyps from Chinese and comparative white patients. RESULTS: The number of EG2+ eosinophils was significantly lower in polyps from Chinese patients versus white patients. Chinese polyps showed significantly increased IgE and soluble interleukin-2 receptor versus control samples, whereas TGF-beta1 was significantly decreased. Ten of 27 samples in the polyp group versus 0 of 15 controls contained SAE-IgE (p < 0.01). TGF-beta1 was significantly down-regulated in SAE+ samples versus SAE- samples (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Nasal polyps from China are characterized by B- and T-cell activation, a minor eosinophilic inflammation compared with polyps from white subjects, and a decrease in TGF-beta1 in comparison with control inferior turbinate tissue. One-third of patients with polyps showed an IgE response to SAEs.