鼻過敏症とムスカリニック受容体-臨床症状との相関性-

Abstract

It is generally accepted that abnormal autonomic responsiveness may contribute to the pathogenesis of hyperesthetic rhinitis. Histologically, cholinergic fibers in the nasal mucosa are located close to blood vessels, but are particularly numerous around the glands. Adrenergic fibers are found mainly around the vasculatures. Physiological and pharmacological studies have demonstrated that parasympathetic hypersensitivity causes hypersecretion, and that sympathetic hypersensitivity causes vasodilatation.Using radioligand binding techniques, it has been found that there is an increased number of muscarinic cholinergic receptors and a decreased number of α1- and β-adrenergic receptors in patients with nasal allergy, while the binding affinities remain unchanged.In this report, using radioligand binding techniques, I investigated the relationship between the number of muscarinic cholinergic receptors, and the degree of the hyperreactive nasal symptoms in patients with hyperesthetic rhinitis, was investigated. The results were as follows.1. The number of muscarinic cholinergic receptors in the human nasal mucosa in patients with hyperesthetic rhinitis was significantly related (p<0.05) to the degree of hypersecretion induced by methacholine and to the frequency of nose blowing, based on observations in an allergy diary.2. There was no relationship between the frequency of sneezing and the number of muscarinic cholinergic receptors.