The normative value of inflammatory cells in the nasal perfusate of Chinese adults: a pilot study.

Objective: To establish stable, well-accepted nasal perfusion and a normative value of classifying cells in the nasal perfusate of Chinese adults.

Methods: A total of 500 healthy adults were divided into two groups of 250 people per group (group A, 16-30 years old and group B, 31-60 years old; male-to-female ratio, 1:1). All volunteers were non-smokers; they were irrigated with saline, and multiple inflammatory cells in the perfusate were analyzed.

Results: Irrigation was successfully performed in 479 cases, a success rate of 95.80%. The types of inflammatory cells showed a skewed distribution. The median number and interquartile range (IQR) of eosinophils were 0 and 0.2, respectively. These values were 0.4 and 2.2, respectively, for neutrophils and 0 and 0, respectively, for both lymphocytes and macrophages. There was no significant difference between males and females (P>0.05). There was a significant difference in the numbers of neutrophils and lymphocytes in the different age groups (P=0.000), but there was no significant difference in the numbers of eosinophils and macrophages (P>0.05). The 95% unilateral upper limited values (UULVs) of eosinophils and neutrophils in the nasal perfusates were 2.99 and 14.94, respectively, for group A and 1.41 and 17.08 for group B. As a result, the total 95% UULVs of eosinophils and neutrophils in the nasal perfusate were 2.00 and 16.80.

Conclusions: We established stable, well-accepted nasal perfusions and normal values for classifying the cells in the nasal perfusate of Chinese adults; the normative values of the inflammatory cells in nasal perfusate are 2.00 for the 95% UULV of eosinophils and 16.80 for neutrophils. Age might be one of the factors affecting the cells in rhinitis.