title: Interferon-gamma production to inner ear antigens by T cells from patients with autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss.
abstract: Autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss (ASNHL) typically produces bilateral rapidly progressive loss of hearing over a few days or weeks, but may also produce sudden loss over a few hours. The diagnosis is made by excluding ototoxicity, systemic disease, and other factors that mimic ASNHL and by showing a therapeutic response to corticosteroid treatment. Antibody production and T-cell proliferative responses to inner ear antigens have been implicated in the etiopathogenesis of ASNHL. In the current study, we have extended these autoimmune investigations by determining the frequencies of inner ear specific IFN-gamma producing T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from ASNHL patients and from age- and sex-matched control subjects. ELISPOT analysis showed that 25% of ASNHL patients have significant increased frequencies of inner ear specific IFN-gamma producing T cells in their PBMC. All control subjects were relatively unresponsive. Our results implicate inner ear specific IFN-gamma producing proinflammatory T cells in the pathogenesis of ASNHL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology and Communicative Disorders, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 44195, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Lorenz
authors.forename: C Arturo
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Solares
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sikora
authors.forename: Clara M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Pelfrey
authors.forename: Gordon B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Vincent K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Tuohy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D020274:Autoimmune Diseases of the Nervous System / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007371:Interferon-gamma