[Changes in connective tissue metabolism in fibroblasts from nasal polyps]

Most studies investigating the etiology of nasal polyposis have concentrated on cellular infiltrations, particularly involving eosinophils and the mast cells which are easily seen. The stroma of polyps and its most significant cells, the fibroblasts, have been poorly investigated to date. We previously compared fibroblasts from normal skin with those explanted from nasal polyps and demonstrated that these show a significantly higher rate of proliferation. We now have investigated the metabolism of fibroblasts explanted from nasal polyps. Compared with fibroblasts explanted from normal skin those explanted from nasal polyps showed a significantly higher rate of proteoglycan synthesis, a significantly lower rate of fibronectin synthesis and no difference in collagen synthesis. Since important parameters of connective tissue are changed, nasal polyps show not only changes in epithelial cells and local tissue immunity, but also in their connective tissue component cells. These findings indicate that fibroblasts may play an important role in the pathogenesis of nasal polyps.