Association of Mucosal Organisms with Patterns of Inflammation in Chronic Rhinosinusitis

BACKGROUND: Chronic rhinosinusitis is a multifactorial process disease in which bacterial infection or colonization may play an important role in the initiation or persistence of inflammatory response. The association between mucosal bacteria presence and inflammatory patterns has only been partially explored. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate specific mucosal microorganisms possible association with inflammatory patterns. METHODS: We collected nasal polyps or sinus tissues from a clinical selection of six patient groups with defined sinus disease using tissue biomarkers. In the tissues, we detected bacteria using peptide nucleic acid fluorescence in situ hybridization (PNA-FISH). RESULTS: After reviewing a total of 115 samples (15–20 samples per group), the mucosal presence of Staphylococcus aureus was correlated with IL-5 and SE-IgE positive chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and nasal polyps from cystic fibrosis patients. Chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps with TNFα >20 pg/ml was associated with the mucosal presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. CONCLUSION: This study identifies the relationship between intramucosal microbes and inflammatory patterns, suggesting that bacteria may affect the type of inflammation in chronic rhinosinusitis. Additional investigation is needed to further identify the nature of the relationship.