{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T10:13:31Z","timestamp":1788776011495,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,6]],"date-time":"2026-09-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788652800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Reports"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Granular changes observed under band-limited epipharyngeal endoscopy are considered a characteristic finding of chronic epipharyngitis; however, their biological significance remains unclear. This study investigated whether granular changes are associated with allergen sensitization and peripheral allergic biomarkers in patients with chronic epipharyngitis. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted in 59 patients with chronic epipharyngitis. Granular changes were graded endoscopically as 0 (absent), 1 (mild-to-moderate), or 2 (severe). Nasal eosinophil counts, peripheral blood eosinophil counts, total immunoglobulin E (IgE), mite-specific IgE, house dust-specific IgE, and peripheral blood CD4\/CD8 ratios were evaluated. Comparisons among groups were performed using the Kruskal\u2013Wallis and Mann\u2013Whitney U tests, and correlations were assessed using Spearman\u2019s rank correlation analysis. Results: Patients with granular changes demonstrated significantly higher mite-specific IgE and house dust-specific IgE levels than those without granular changes. In comparisons between patients without granular changes (grade 0) and those with granular changes (grades 1 and 2), significant differences were observed for mite-specific IgE (p = 0.016) and house dust-specific IgE (p = 0.016). In contrast, nasal eosinophil counts, peripheral blood eosinophil counts, total IgE levels, and CD4\/CD8 ratios showed no significant associations with granular changes. Furthermore, Spearman correlation analysis revealed no significant correlations between granular change scores and any evaluated biomarker. Conclusions: Granular changes on epipharyngeal endoscopy were associated with sensitization to mite and house dust allergens but were not associated with peripheral eosinophil counts, total IgE levels, or CD4\/CD8 ratios. These findings suggest that the presence of granular changes may be associated with allergen sensitization; however, no association with increasing granular severity was observed. Further studies incorporating local immune profiling and cytokine analyses are warranted to clarify the biological significance of granular changes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/reports9030300","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T09:23:37Z","timestamp":1788773017000},"page":"300","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Association Between Granular Changes on Epipharyngeal Endoscopy and Allergen Sensitization in Chronic Epipharyngitis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2638-0510","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manabu","family":"Mogitate","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Mogitate ENT Clinic, Kawasaki 213-0011, Kanagawa, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"196","article-title":"Biink\u016ben no arawasu shosh\u014dj\u014d ni tsuite (Various symptoms associated with nasopharyngitis)","volume":"1","author":"Horiguchi","year":"1958","journal-title":"Otol. 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