The role of periostin in eosinophilic otitis media.
CONCLUSIONS
We investigated the localization of periostin in middle ear specimens from patients with eosinophilic otitis media (EOM) and from a newly constructed animal model for EOM. Periostin-positive immunostaining was observed in the middle ear sections obtained from the EOM patients. Immunoreactivity for periostin was also seen in the animal model. These results suggest that periostin plays an important role in subepithelial fibrosis in the middle ear in EOM.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of periostin in the middle ear of EOM patients and an animal model.


METHODS
Histological and immunohistochemical analyses for periostin were carried out in the middle ear specimens of six EOM patients with/without asthma. An animal model of EOM was constructed by intraperitoneal and topical sensitization with ovalbumin (OVA). Histological and immunocytochemical analyses for periostin were also performed in this model.


RESULTS
Immunoreactivities for periostin were observed in the basement membrane and extracellular matrix of the middle ear sections obtained from all EOM patients with/without asthma. In the animal model, eosinophil infiltration and middle ear mucosa thickness were observed. Moreover, periostin-positive immunostaining was shown in the extracellular matrix of the middle ear mucosa on the side topically boosted by OVA.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
Hisanori
H
Nishizawa
Atsushi
A
Matsubara
Takashi
T
Nakagawa
Nobuo
N
Ohta
Kenji
K
Izuhara
Takashi
T
Shirasaki
Takahisa
T
Abe
Ikuko
I
Takeda
Hideichi
H
Shinkawa
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004802:Eosinophilia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; C512835:POSTN protein, human