{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T10:07:44Z","timestamp":1789726064955,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a pervasive type-2 inflammatory disorder of the nasal mucosa whose clinical course is defined less by acute flares than by recurrence and apparent resistance to cure. Although AR has traditionally been framed as a systemic, IgE-driven disease, a growing body of evidence points to the nasal mucosa itself as a site of durable, antigen-specific immune memory. Tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells - non-recirculating, longevity-endowed lymphocytes that lodge in barrier tissues - are ideally positioned to convert transient allergen exposure into persistent inflammation. This mini review synthesizes human and preclinical evidence that nasal TRM cells, including Th2-polarized CD4+ subsets and a recently described pathogenic CD8+ subset (first characterized in recurrent chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, CRSwNP), constitute a credible - but still largely hypothetical - cellular substrate for AR chronicity and post-immunotherapy relapse. We propose that the 2025 discovery of granzyme K (GZMK)-expressing CD8+ memory T cells driving recurrent airway inflammation (Lan et\u00a0al., Nature 2025) provides a translatable framework for understanding AR relapse. We note that direct, high-resolution human evidence for nasal TRM in pure AR remains limited; accordingly, we integrate findings from CRSwNP, lower-airway disease, and animal models as a translatable evidence base and explicitly flag where each conclusion is established versus hypothetical. We outline how targeting TRM retention, phenotype, or effector molecules could complement allergen immunotherapy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1955001","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T09:43:57Z","timestamp":1789724637000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Tissue-resident memory T cells in the nasal mucosa: gatekeepers of chronicity and relapse in allergic rhinitis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Xinyu","family":"Han","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Guangzhou, China"]},{"name":"ShenShan Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Shanwei, 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