Abstract: Objective To investigate the status of the balance between proliferation and apoptosis of epithelial cells in nasal polyps and to explore its pathogenic significance. Methods Expressions of PCNA were determined for 29 cases of nasal polyps in the treatment group and 11 cases of normal inferior turbinates in the control group by immunohistochemical staining. The apoptosis cells in site were determined by the TUNEL technique. Results ① Both the PCNA positive index（PIPCNA）and the apoptosis index（AI）of epithelial cells in nasal polyps were prominently higher than those in normal inferior turbinates（30.02±5.89, 5.33±2.79, respectively）(P＜0.01). However, the PIPCNA/AI ratio of epithelial cells in nasal polyps（1.95±0.66） was lower than that in normal inferior turbinates（6.93±3.32）(P＜0.01).② The PIPCNA of epithelial cells in nasal polyps (53.60±11.10) was prominently higher than the AI of epithelial cells in nasal polyps（29.48±8.20）(P＜0.01). Conclusions Both proliferation actability and apoptosis actability of epithelial cells in nasal polyps are increasing, and the latter is of a large increasing range, but the proliferation rate of epithelial cells in nasal polyps, taking one with another, is still higher than the apoptosis rate, resulting in an increasing cell accumulation accompanied by overproliferation of epithelial cells in nasal polyps.

Key words: Nasal polyps, Epithelial cells, Proliferation, Apoptosis