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Epithelial Ion Transport of Human Nasal Polyp and Paranasal Sinus Mucosa

Department of Molecular Cell Physiology, Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, and Department of Respiratory Molecular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine; and Department of Otolaryngology, Kyoto Second Red Cross Hospital, Kyoto, Japan

Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr. Yoshinori Marunaka, Department of Molecular Cell Physiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan. E-mail: marunaka{at}koto.kpu-m.ac.jp

Nasal cavity and paranasal sinus have various functions. However, little information is available on ion transport in these upper airway epithelia. In the present study, we measured the anion secretion and the anion channel activity to characterize the ion transport in epithelial cells prepared from human paranasal sinus mucosa (PSM) and nasal polyp (NP). To estimate the anion secretion and the anion channel activity, we measured the short-circuit current (Isc) and the transepithelial conductance (Gt) sensitive to NPPB (a Cl^– channel blocker). The NPPB-sensitive Isc in PSM was larger than that in NP, correlating to the NPPB-sensitive Gt (Cl^– channel activity). Forskolin stably elevated the NPPB-sensitive Isc associated with an increase in the NPPB-sensitive Gt in PSM and NP. UTP transiently stimulated the Isc associated with an elevation of Gt in PSM and NP. The stimulatory action of UTP on Isc and Gt was diminished by application of NPPB but not benzamil in PSM and NP, suggesting that UTP induced the NPPB-sensitive Isc (Cl^– secretion) and Gt (Cl^– channel activity). These observations suggest that in human PSM and NP, cAMP stably stimulates anion secretion by activating the Cl^– (anion) channels, and that UTP just transiently elevates anion secretion via activation of some Cl^– (anion) channels.

Key Words: epithelium • nasal polyp • paranasal sinus mucosa • CFTR

CLINICAL RELEVANCE We characterized the ion transport and its regulation in the human tissue, indicating that cAMP and UTP stimulate anion secretion, giving us some information on how to block infection from the upper airway.