[Relationship between expressions of GATA-3 and interleukin-5 in nasal polyps].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of transcription factor GATA-3 in the pathogenesis of nasal polyps. METHODS: The expression of GATA-3 was detected by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 28 cases of nasal polyps and 17 specimens of normal nasal epithelium. The expression of interleukin-5 (IL-5) in these specimens was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) meanwhile. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry showed, as confirmed by RT-PCR, a positive rate of GATA-3 of 89.3% in the nasal polyp (25/28) and 29.4% in the normal nasal mucosa (5/17), P < 0.05. GATA-3 was mainly distributed in submucous inflammatory cells. The relative density ratio of GATA-3 to GAPDH was 0.618 +/- 0.137 in nasal polyp and 0.21 +/- 0.11 in normal nasal mucosa (P < 0.05) as indicated by RT-PCR and agarose electrophoresis. The concentrations of IL-5 were 69.4 +/- 15.1 pg/ml and 25.7 +/- 13.0 pg/mg in the two groups respectively. The expression of GATA-3 was positively correlated to the expression of IL-5 in the nasal polyp. CONCLUSION: Contributing to the overexpression of such cytokines as IL-5, GATA-3 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of nasal polyps.