-Original-

Inhibitory Effects of S-carboxymethylcystein on Goblet Cell Proliferation in Cultured Epithelium

Satoshi Yamaguchi¹, Shoji Matsune¹, Kuwon Sekine¹, Nozomu Wakayama¹, Yasuhiko Kitayama², Yuji Nakamura² and Kimihiro Okubo³

¹Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Nippon Medical School Musashi Kosugi Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan
²Department of Pathology, Nippon Medical School Musashi Kosugi Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan
³Department of Otolaryngology, Nippon Medical School Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Background: The influence of S-carboxymethylcystein (S-CMC) on the proliferation ability of goblet cells in nasal polyp epithelium in response to inflammatory stimulation was examined.
Methods: The subjects were patients with chronic paranasal sinusitis. An epithelial cell culture system was established using nasal polyp mucosa excised during endoscopic paranasal sinus surgery. The samples were divided into 4 groups (group a: control group, group b: 10 ng/mL tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) treatment group, group c: 10^-7 M S-CMC and 10 ng/mL TNF-α treatment group, group d: 10^-5 M S-CMC and 10 ng/mL TNF-α treatment group). The total number of epithelial cells and number of goblet cells were measured under a microscope, and the ratio of goblet cells to the total number of epithelial cells was calculated.
Results: In group b, 10 ng/mL of TNF-α significantly increased the number of goblet cells compared with group a, suggesting involvement of TNF-α in goblet cell proliferation. In addition, the number of goblet cells significantly decreased in group d compared with that in group b, and it also decreased in group c compared with that in group b, although the difference was not significant, and the decrease was smaller than that in group d, suggesting that S-CMC inhibited goblet cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner.
Conclusion: TNF-α promoted goblet cell proliferation in nasal polyps, suggesting its influence on nasal polyp formation. As S-CMC inhibited inflammatory stimulation-induced goblet cell proliferation in nasal polyp epithelium, it may be useful for the treatment of sinusitis.

J Nippon Med Sch 2018; 85: 215-220

Keywords
S-carboxymethylcystein, TNF-α, chronic sinusitis, goblet cell, nasal polyp

Correspondence to
Satoshi Yamaguchi, Nippon Medical School Musashi Kosugi Hospital, 1-396 Kosugi-cho, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 211-8533, Japan
s6095@nms.ac.jp

Received, November 18, 2017
Accepted, March 6, 2018