Electrophoretic evaluation of nasal discharge in patients with allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis

Background: Allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis are two common diseases that have similar symptoms and physical findings. This study was designed to assess the efficacy of electrophoretic analysis of nasal discharge for the, differential diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis. Methods: Two different groups of patients with allergic rhinitis (n = 18) and with vasomotor rhinitis (n = 18) diagnosed by current methods and 10 healthy subjects as a control group were included in this study. Component analyses of proteins in nasal wash were made by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results: The mean levels of total protein, 66-kDa proteins and 26-kDa proteins (277.2 +/- 9 mug/mL, 114.5 9 mug/mL, and 67.0 +/- 4 mug/mL, respectively), in nasal washing samples of patients with allergic rhinitis were found to be higher than in the samples, (222.0 +/- 6 mug/mL, 65.6 +/- 6 mug/mL, and 42.9 +/- 4 mug/mL, respectively) obtained from patients with vasomotor rhinitis. The control group showed the lowest rate of these proteins (167.8 +/- 7 mug/mL, 34.3 +/- 3 mug/mL, and 25.0 +/- 3 mug/mL, respectively). The differences between mean levels of these proteins in all groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusions: These findings indicate that electrophoretic analysis of nasal discharge can be used for the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis. However, further studies are needed to standardize the technique of nasal wash and to determine the range of proteins in nasal secretions that will confirm the diagnosis.