Dectin-1 is traditionally known as a pattern recognition receptor related to fungal immunity, and it can induce several other immune responses. There was a previous report that the expression of Dectin-1 was increased in nasal polyp (NP).

In order to evaluate its effect on NP, we compared the expression levels of mRNA and protein by real-time PCR and Western blot analysis, respectively, among 4 tissue types (uncinate tissues (UT) from normal control, chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) without NP (CRSsNP) patient, and CRS with NP (CRSwNP) patient, and NP tissue from CRSwNP patient).

Dectin-1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in NP of CRSwNP patient than that in UT of normal control (p=0.0069). On the contrary, it was significantly lower in UT of CRSwNP group, compared with those in UTs of the control (p=0.0055) and CRSsNP groups (p=0.0013), and NP of CRSwNP group (p<0.0001). The expression of Dectin-1 protein was higher in NP than those in UTs of 3 groups, however, it was not significant. The patients who had a relapse of CRSwNP showed significantly lower expression of Dectin-1 mRNA in NP than those without recurrence.

Taken altogether, the expression of Dectin-1 can be utilized as a predictive factor for the recurrence of NP, and the role of Dectin-1 agonist as a therapeutic agent can be considered.