Research Article PLUNC Proteins Positivity in Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Case-Control Study Desiderio Passali, 1 Codrut Sarafoleanu, 2 Claudiu Manea, 2 Michele Loglisci, 1 Francesco Maria Passali, 3 Jacopo Cambi, 1 Cristina Iosif, 4 Eugenia Panaitescu, 5 and Luisa Maria Bellussi 1 1 Direttore Otorinolaringoiatria, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese, Viale Bracci, 53100 Siena, Italy 2 ENT Department, Sfanta Maria Clinical Hospital, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy 37, Dionisie Lupu Street, 020021 Bucharest, Romania 3 ENT Department, Univerist´ a degli Studi “Tor Vergata” di Roma, U.O.C. di Otorinolaringoiatria, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy 4 Anatomopathology Department, Sfanta Maria Clinical Hospital, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy 37, Dionisie Lupu Street, 020021 Bucharest, Romania 5 Department of Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, Sfanta Maria Clinical Hospital, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy 37, Dionisie Lupu Street, 020021 Bucharest, Romania Correspondence should be addressed to Desiderio Passali; d.passali@virgilio.it Received 17 April 2014; Revised 18 June 2014; Accepted 20 June 2014; Published 15 July 2014 Academic Editor: Stefen Maune Copyright © 2014 Desiderio Passali et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction. Innate immunity is the frst protection against microorganisms. Nowadays, there is a growing interest in innate immune molecule known as palate, lung, nasal epithelial clone (PLUNC). PLUNC is a specifc product of the airways, of approximately 25 kDa, encoded by adjacent genes found within a 300 kb region of chromosome 20; these proteins must be detected predominantly in the upper respiratory tract. Materials and Methods. We performed a case-control study to investigate the presence of this protein in nasal tissue of patients afected by chronic rhinosinusitis. 59 patients were enrolled (44 cases, 15 controls). We have examined the correlation between the presence of pathology and the PLUNC proteins positivity. Results. 100% of controls have a +++ rated PLUNC proteins positivity, while cases have a lower percentage of positivity. We used  2 statistical test to analyze the results of the study and there is a diference statistically signifcant between cases and controls in PLUNC proteins positivity. Conclusions. Tese observations suggest that, in response to agents or chemical factors, nasal mucosal epithelium will react and produce PLUNC proteins. So PLUNC proteins have a protective function on upper airways mucosa, as we can see by evaluating the high positivity in control group. 1. Introduction In multicellular organisms, innate immunity is the frst pro- tection against microorganisms. Te innate immune system consists of a group of polypeptides and proteins which work together to respond to threats from microbes and/or chemical agents. Such molecules are ofen produced in regions of the body that interface with the environment, where innate def- ense is a major requirement, such as upper and lower airways (nasal, tracheal, and bronchial tissues), major salivary glands and minor mucosal glands of the oral cavity, gastric mucosa, and the skin [1]. Nowadays, there is a growing interest in the proposed innate immune molecule known as palate, lung, nasal epithe- lial clone (PLUNC). PLUNC genes are expressed predominantly in the upper respiratory tract, nasal mucosa, and oral cavity. PLUNC pro- teins are structurally similar to lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) and bactericidal/permeability-increasing pro- tein (BPI), and so authors hypothesized that PLUNC proteins may function in the innate immune defense of the respiratory tract, also acting as sensors of bacteria in airways and oral cavity. Hindawi Publishing Corporation e Scientific World Journal Volume 2014, Article ID 853583, 5 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/853583