Topical corticosteroids are currently employed to reduce established airway inflammation; their prophylactic use might help limit cellular damage against harmful stimuli.
Researchers conducted this study to determine the effects of a prophylactic topical application of BD on an in vivo nasal epithelium injury model induced by TCA.
Three groups received topical intranasal BD, saline solution, or no intervention before a single topical exposure to TCA. The researchers did not expose controls to TCA. Whole nasal cavity coronal sections were analyzed at 1, 3, and 6 days post-injury at the tissue and cellular levels using histopathological analysis, immunofluorescent staining, and new tissue RNA microarray analysis.
Prophylactic topical corticosteroid exposure protected the nasal epithelium from acute damage, maintaining epithelial thickness and cell survival. Six days following TCA exposure, epithelial and cellular changes were less pronounced on the BD-treated group than all exposure groups. Microarray analysis was used to evaluate the gene transcripts in all treatment groups.
The study concluded that topical corticosteroid treatment to the nasal epithelium could mitigate several of the early harmful effects of acute epithelial damage in experimental airway injuries caused by TCA.
Reference: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1945892418823305
