Immunocytologic analysis of nasal cells obtained by nasal lavage: a comparative study with a standard method of cell identification

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Abstract
For evaluation of two methods of nasal cell identification, cell morphology and immunocytologic analysis, nasal lavage was performed in 16 healthy subjects and 29 patients suffering from rhinitis. Nasal lavage smears were stained with May-Grünwald-Giemsa (MGG), and cells were identified according to their structure as epithelial cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and metachromatic cells (basophils and mast cells). Immunocytologic analysis was performed with monoclonal antibodies by the immunoalkaline phosphatase method. The following monoclonal antibodies were used: CK1, EG2, and CD3, which identify epithelial cells, activated eosinophils, and T lymphocytes, respectively; CD15, which recognizes mature granulocytic cells; and CD14, which reacts with monocytes and macrophages. A significant difference was observed between the two methods in the number of identified epithelial cells, in both controls (64.6 +/- 7.8% with MGG, 14.2 +/- 3.5% with CK1 analysis) and patients with rhinitis (56.9 +/- 7.6% with MGG, 18.2 +/- 3.7% with CK1 analysis). In contrast, no significant differences were found in eosinophil and neutrophil counts when the two methods were compared. After nasal allergic provocation, a significant increase in the number of eosinophils was observed with both methods in seven patients with rhinitis. The results of this study indicate that: 1) MGG staining is a useful method to identify the cells obtained by nasal lavage, and 2) immunocytologic analysis with monoclonal antibodies accurately identifies granulocytic cells, while only a low proportion of epithelial cells are detected, probably because anticytokeratin monoclonal antibody reacts only with viable cells.