[Immunohistochemical study of mast cells in allergic rhinitis: an indicator for assessing the therapeutic effect of chemosurgery using trichloroacetic acid].

An immunohistochemical study was conducted on the degree of tryptase-positive, chymase-negative mast cells (MCT) and tryptase-positive, chymase-positive mast cells (MCTC) infiltration in the inferior turbinates of 15 patients with perennial allergic rhinitis who underwent septal reconstruction and bilateral inferior turbinectomy 85 +/- 21 days after unilateral chemosurgical treatment using trichloroacetic acid (TCA). In samples without TCA treatment, many MCTs were observed in the mucosal epithelium near the basement membrane, especially in the area where many goblet cells were found, and some MCTs were found around the glands and vessels in the subepithelial layer. Most MCTCs were found in the subepithelial layer, and some in the epithelial layer. On the TCA-treated side, part of the epithelium disappeared, becoming squamatized epithelium in which MCTs were scarcely observed. Statistically, the number of mast cell on the side of TCA treatment was significantly less than on the non-treated side in the epithelial layer. In treated subepithelium layer, both MCTs and MCTCs were significantly fewer than on the non-treated side. These pathological findings suggest that TCA surgery has clinical potential to improve allergic rhinitis symptoms.