[The role of biofilms in pathogenesis of chronic bacterial rhinosinusitis]

The objective of the present work was to study the contribution of biofilms to the development of chronic bacterial rhinosinusitis. A total of 50 patients with this pathology were available for the examination. Mucosal swabs were taken from the middle nasal passages of all the patients to be used for the detection of biofilms by luminescence microscopy. The lactoferrine content in mucosal secretion from the nasal cavity was determined by an immunoenzymatic assay. Two groups of the patients presenting with bacterial rhinosinusitis were distinguished in the study of impression smears from nasal cavity mucosa by luminescence microscopy; one of them was comprised of biofilm-positive patients the other of biofilm-negative ones (56% and 44% respectively). The patients showing biofilms over nasal cavity mucosa had the lactoferrine content in mucosal secretion on the order of 0.0033±0.0008 mg/l compared with 0.0068±0.00075 mg/l in the biofilm-negative patients and 0.55±0.0005 mg/l in the healthy volunteers (controls). In other words, the biofilm-positive patients presenting with chronic bacterial rhinosinusitis had two times lower content of lactoferrine in mucosal secretion from the middle nasal passages than those in the biofilm negative group and 126 times lower content of lactoferrine than in the control group.