Introduction: Polyps are a nasal condition considered to be inflammatory in nature. Pathophysiology of that disorder is not fully known. The role of ICAM-1 in inflammatory and immune response through its involvement in leukocyte adhesion dependent phenomena is proved to be important. The aim of the study was to establish the role of sICAM-1 in the inflammatory process in nasal polyps.
Material and methods: 27 patients (23 males and 4 females) with nasal polyposis and 12 (7 males and 5 females) controls with septal deviation were included in the study. All patients underwent routine surgical treatment (polypectomy, septoplasty). The collected tissues of polyps and nasal mucosa were homogenized, placed in 0.04M EDTA and centrifuged. sICAM-1 concentration in supernatant of polyps and nasal mucosa tissue were determined with the ELISA method (Genzyme, UK).
Results: In the polyps tissue we found a significantly higher concentration of sICAM-1 compared to the nasal mucosa of healthy subjects (6.74±5.31 ng/ml vs 0.28±0.13 ng/ml; p<0.001). The elevated concentration of sICAM-1 was positively correlated with total tissue eosinophil count (r=0.51; p<0.01) and the duration of the disease (r=0.628; p<0.001). No correlation was found between sICAM concentration and the age of the patients subjected to examination.
Conclusions: The increased level of sICAM-1 in polyps tissue indicates the role of the molecule in the development of chronic inflammation and probably in the patophysiology of nasal polyps.

Keywords: adhesion molecule ICAM-1, Nasal Polyps