Air pollution exposure is associated with rhinitis in older US adults via specific immune mechanisms.

Background: Pathophysiology of rhinitis in older adults is largely unknown. We tested whether air pollution is associated with this condition and how immune mechanisms may play a role in this relationship.

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, a nationally representative study of older adults born between 1920 and 1947.

Sinonasal epithelial cell expression of toll-like receptor 9 is decreased in chronic rhinosinusitis with polyps.

Background: Innate immune recognition of pathogens by sinonasal epithelial cells may play an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Previous studies have indicated that toll-like receptor (TLR) mRNA is present in sinonasal mucosa, and levels of TLR9 expression are decreased in recalcitrant CRS with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). However, the cellular source and function of TLR9 in the sinonasal epithelium is not known.