Phenotypic distribution of T cells in human nasal mucosa differs from that in the gut

Phenotypic and functional studies are required to understand the immunoregulatory role of mucosal T cells. Information about T cells in the human upper respiratory tract is limited and conflicting. Therefore, we phenotyped T cells in nasal mucosa by means of multicolor in situ immunofluorescence. In normal mucosa, most CD3+ intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) and lamina propria lymphocytes (LPLs) (> 90%) expressed T-cell receptor (TCR)alpha/beta, and only approximately 5% expressed TCRgamma/delta. Although most IELs in the surface epithelium were CD8+ (64%), many expressed CD4 (30%) and the CD4 phenotype dominated (55%) only slightly in the lamina propria. This result was strikingly different from that obtained for comparable compartments in histologically normal jejunal mucosa, where IELs consisted of 83% CD8+ and LPLs of 73% CD4(+) T cells. Nasal CD3+ IELs and LPLs were mainly CD45RO+CD45RA- and usually expressed CD7. The integrin alphaEbeta7 was, as expected, more common on IELs than on LPLs (78 versus 20%). In conclusion, nasal T cells show several similarities to those of the normal jejunum but some notable differences exist, especially a relative increase in CD4+ T cells in the epithelium and a decrease in the lamina propria. It should be explored whether this disparity, together with an increased expression of epithelial adhesion molecules, might contribute to local immunological overstimulation and partly explain the relatively high frequency of airway allergy.