The Microenvironmental Differentiation Hypothesis of Airway Inflammation

We have observed clinically relevant increases and fluctuations in metachromatic cell and eosinophil progenitors in response to antigenic challenge in patients with upper and lower respiratory tract disease. Based on this we have developed in vitro models to assess cytokine and microenvironmental influences on nasal mucosal inflammation. Purified structural cells (nasal epithelial cells or fibroblasts) grown from nasal polyps and atopic or …