title: T cells infiltrating from the systemic circulation proliferate in the endolymphatic sac.
abstract: It has been reported that autoimmune mechanisms are involved in the development of inner ear disorders such as Meniere's disease and steroid-responsive sensorineural hearing loss. In the present study, using an animal model for graft-versus-host disease, we investigated the immune regulatory mechanism in the endolymphatic sac and demonstrated that donor T cells injected into the systemic circulation of recipients infiltrate and proliferate in the perisaccular region. These findings suggest that immunocompetent cells are supplied from the systemic circulation through blood-labyrinth and blood-endolymph barriers into the endolymphatic sac, and that the endolymphatic sac allows these cells to proliferate locally as a local immune defense. It therefore seems likely that the endolymphatic sac plays a crucial role in not only graft-versus-host disease but also autoimmune inner ear disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Moriguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwai
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tomoda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugiura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inaba
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikehara
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D004712:Endolymphatic Sac / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens