Nasal mucosal brushing as a diagnostic method for allergic rhinitis.

Area of Science:

• Allergology and Immunology
• Otorhinolaryngology
• Diagnostic Medicine

Background:

• Local allergic rhinitis diagnosis relies on allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (spIgE) in nasal mucosa.
• Inferior turbinate tissue biopsy is sensitive but invasive for detecting nasal spIgE.
• Nasal brushing offers a less invasive alternative for nasal spIgE detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate nasal brushing's diagnostic performance for nasal spIgE compared to inferior turbinate tissue biopsy.
• To assess the utility of nasal brushing spIgE in relation to serum spIgE and skin-prick testing.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 157 patients undergoing turbinate surgery.
• Collected nasal brushing, inferior turbinate biopsy, and blood samples perioperatively.
• Tested samples for house-dust allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (spIgE) using receiver operating curve analysis.

Main Results:

• Nasal brushing demonstrated excellent performance for nasal spIgE detection versus biopsy (AUC 0.87).
• Nasal brushing spIgE results correlated significantly with serum spIgE (AUC 0.93) and skin-prick tests (AUC 0.80).
• A threshold of > 0.1 kUA/L was defined for positive house-dust allergen spIgE in nasal brushings.

Conclusions:

• Nasal brushing is an easy, minimally invasive method for sampling nasal epithelium.
• This technique is comparable to inferior turbinate biopsy for diagnosing local allergic rhinitis.
• Nasal brushing shows potential as a valuable diagnostic tool for local allergic rhinitis.