Mayo Clinic researchers have found that the cause of chronic sinus infections lies in the nasal mucus -- the snot -- not in the nasal and sinus tissue targeted by standard treatment. The findings will be published in the August issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and are available online at http://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/jaci. “This strikingly teaches against what has been thought worldwide about the origin of chronic sinus infection: that inflammatory cells break down, releasing toxic proteins into the diseased airway tissue,” says lead researcher and Mayo Clinic ear, nose and throat specialist Jens Ponikau, M.D. “Instead we found that these toxic proteins are released into the mucus, and not in the tissue. Therefore, scientists might need to take not only the tissue but also the mucus into account when trying to understand what causes chronic sinus infections and probably other airway diseases.” The findings could significantly change the way chronic sinus infection is treated, according to Dr. Ponikau.
