The Influence of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha on the Permeability of Nasal Epithelial Cell Monolayer

The effect of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) on the barrier function of the nasal epithelium (RPMI 2650 cell line) was studied in in vitro experiments. It was shown that short-term exposure to the cytokine (6 h) increased transepithelial electrical resistance and decreased paracellular permeability for mannitol, which was accompanied by elevated expression of the tight junction proteins occludin and claudin-1. Prolonged exposure (48 h) caused an opposite effect, i.e., a significant decrease in the barrier function and a decrease in the content of the studied proteins. These results indicate that the proinflammatory cytokine TNFα modulates the permeability of the nasal epithelium, which should be taken into account when developing strategies for intranasal drug delivery.