Nasal inflammation induced by a common cold: comparison between controls and patients with nasal polyposis under topical steroid therapy.

The evolution of nasal inflammation during a common cold in patients with nasal polyposis under topical steroid treatment is not clearly defined in the literature. Objective of this study was to analyse nasal inflammation during a common cold in patients with nasal polyposis under topical steroid treatment in comparison with control subjects. Two groups of subjects (35 consecutive patients with nasal polyposis receiving medical treatment, and 17 control subjects without any symptoms of chronic rhino-sinusitis) were studied: 10 patients with nasal polyposis and 11 controls had a common cold during a one-year follow-up period. Nasal lavage was performed at baseline and during the common cold. Soluble inflammatory mediators and permeability markers were determined in the nasal lavage fluid, as well as total and differential counts of the cells present. At baseline, no significant difference between controls and patients was observed, except for eosinophils. Paired comparisons between baseline and cold in controls revealed that all measured parameters, except for eosinophils, increased in the second nasal lavage. In nasal polyposis patients, the total cell neutrophil counts tended to increase. However, most of the concentrations of soluble parameters did not vary significantly in the second lavage, except for interleukin-6. In conclusion nasal inflammation markers appear to be similar in patients with and without nasal polyposis during a common cold when nasal polyposis patients are under topical steroid treatment.