Ascertainment of Immunohischemitry variations of chronic rhinosinusitis among textil industry workers exclusively exposed to cotton dust

• Grant number: 12/05188-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2013
• End date: January 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Wilma Terezinha Anselmo Lima
• Grantee: Wilma Terezinha Anselmo Lima
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Edwin Tamashiro ; Fabiana Cardoso Pereira Valera ; Ivan de Picoli Dantas

Abstract

The respiratory tract is a major point of entry for noxious particles and agents. Considering that exposure to aerosols may lead to the development of inflammatory processes and this is one of the possible causes of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), our goal will be determined the prevalence of CRS in workers exposed to cotton dust in order to characterize it as an occupational disease related to this irritant(outcome has already got) and to define immunohistochemistry features of this important occupational disease(CRS). Materials and methods: This study has based on the analysis of two questionnaires answered by 133 employees of a textile company. Workers with clinical diagnosis of CRS were submitted to nasal endoscopy, CT scan of the sinuses and biopsy of nasal mucosas. RESULTS: Of the 133 employees polled, 35.3% (n = 47) were previously selected with the clinical symptoms of CRS and were invited to get the tests done. In 37 subjects who were examined, we found abnormalities consistent with CRS -- 67.6% of nasofibroscopy (n = 25) and 70.3% (n = 26) of CT scan. So we have 19.6% of the total population studied with confirmed diagnosis of CRS. DISCUSSION: In accordance with the Guide for Occupational Diseases in Otorhinolaryngology, cotton is not cited as a causative agent of sinusitis; it is related only to occupational rhinitis. The high prevalence of CRS in workers exposed exclusively to cotton in this study can be characterized as an occupational disease. The next step of study will be make the immunohistochemistry, that is the very important to define the disease's pathogenesis of CRS related to cotton dust, and this subject has been unpublished until now. (AU)