Macromolecular permeability of the tight junction of the human nasal mucosa.

Abstract

Using HRP as a cytochemical tracer, we investigated the tight junctional permeability of the human nasal mucosa in the early stage of its transportation. We found that the tight junction becomes "leaky" in the inflammatory and in the allergic conditions. Connection of goblet-goblet and goblet-ciliated cells were weaker than that of ciliated-ciliated cells. All epithelial tight junctions seemed to be loose in cases of allergic rhinitis.