Local Allergen-Specific IgE Production in Turbinate Tissue of Pediatric Patients

Objectives: The objective of this study is to compare serum allergen-specific IgE to IgE levels in nasal tissue taken from the inferior turbinates of pediatric patients undergoing turbinate reduction. Methods: Twenty-six pediatric patients were recruited at the time of turbinate reduction surgery. At the time of recruitment, parents of patients completed the validated 22 item Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) to describe symptoms prior to surgery. A sample of turbinate tissue was taken during turbinate reduction and blood was collected. Tissue and serum IgE were measured and differences in the group characteristics were evaluated using Chi-square tests for binary variables and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests for continuous variables. Student's t test was used to assess differences in means of total SNOT-22 scoring between the groups, and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests were used again for the rest of the SNOT-22 analysis. Results: Levels of IgE in the serum were compared to levels in the turbinate tissue from all patients for each individual allergen. Every allergen except Alternaria displayed significant correlation between the serum and turbinate IgE levels. Additionally, each allergen except Alternaria and oak tree resulted in a strong correlation (r > .7) based on the correlation coefficients. Levels of Alternaria were found to be poorly correlative between serum and turbinate tissue, and significance was not achieved (r = -.346, P = .11). Conclusion: Certain allergen-specific IgE antibodies in the nasal mucosa seem to be highly associated with those in the serum, based upon the significant correlations we found between the two.