Immune Defense in Upper Airways: A Single-Cell Study of Pathogen-Specific Plasmablasts and Their Migratory Potentials in Acute Sinusitis and Tonsillitis

Abstract

URT infections-acute sinusitis and tonsillitis-both elicited a response of circulating pathogen-specific plasmablasts. The magnitude of the response was greater in sinusitis than tonsillitis, but the homing receptor profiles were similar. Human nasopharynx-associated lymphoid structures were found to disseminate immune effector cells with a distinct homing profile.