van Drunen C.M.: Deregulation of local mucosal immuneresponses in respiratory pathology

The prevelance of inflammatory airway diseases like allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis is constantly increasing. Over the last 20 years the number of people suffering from allergic rhinitis has quadrupled and currently about a quarter of the Dutch population has respiratory airway complaints. Not only is the burden of disease for the patients large with its huge impact on the quality of life, but also the burden for society. Increasing direct medication costs for the health care system and the indirect costs from reduced productivity are a major concern. The mainstay of the research into how immune responses are initiated within the local nasal mucosa is concentrated in four closely related projects. The first project focuses on the interaction of nasal epithelial cells with allergens and the interaction of epithelial with tissue resident cells. The second project focusses on the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis/nasal polyposis and non-allergic rhinitis.