Cochlear and Renal Pathology in the Autoimmune Strain Mouse

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the role of immunologic mechanisms in sensorineural hearing disorders and the relationship between inner ear and renal disorders. Autoimmune strain (NZB/kl) mice, in which autoimmune disease can be spontaneously induced, were used in this study. The mice were tested for acoustic brain stem responses, cochlear and renal disorders, and circulating immune complex serology by means of enzyme immunoassay. Pathologic studies consisted of observation of tissue changes following hematoxylin and eosin staining and indirect immunofluorescence staining under light microscopy. Compared to controls, the hearing was impaired in NZB/kl mice. Indirect fluorescence staining showed immunoglobulin G deposits in the stria vascularis. There was a correlation between the degree of hearing impairment and the severity of stria vascularis lesions. The NZB/kl mouse can provide a model for sensorineural hearing disorders secondary to immunologic disorders.

Keywords

autoimmune disease immune complex immunohistochemistry lupus mouse sensorineural hearing disorder

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Miller

Joseph

Cozad

McCabe

. Alport's syndrome. Arch Otolaryngol 1970; 92: 419–32.

Quick

Fish

Brown

. The relationship between cochlea and kidney. Laryngoscope 1973; 83: 1469–82.

Arnold

. Inner ear and renal diseases. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1984; 93(suppl 112): 119–24.

McCabe

. Autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1979; 88: 585–9.

Kanzaki

. Criteria for acute profound deafness related to immunological disorders. 1989 report of acute profound deafness research committee of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Tokyo, Japan: Japan Intractable Disease Foundation, 1989: 20–1.

Dixon

. Murine SLE models and autoimmune disease. Hosp Pract 1982; 17: 63–73.

Trune

Craven

Morton

Mitchell

. Autoimmune disease and cochlear pathology in the C3H/lpr strain mouse. Hear Res 1989; 38: 57–66.

Hatakeyama

Koide

Fukuta

Yokoi

Yanagita

. Morphological study of cochlea in experimental chronic serum sickness. Nippon Jibiinkoka Gakkai Kaiho 1991; 94: 693–8.

Nakai

. Sensorineural hearing loss — Causes, pathology, and approach to its treatment. Tokyo, Japan: Medical Education Publishers, 1985: 269–74.

10.

Kanzaki

Ouchi

. Steroid-responsive bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and immune complexes. Arch Otorhinolaryngol 1981; 230: 5–9.

11.

Hamblin

Mufti

Bracewell

. Severe deafness in systemic lupus erythematosus: Its immediate relief by plasma exchange [Abstract]. Br Med J 1982; 284: 1374.

12.

Tomiyama

Harris

. The endolymphatic sac: Its importance in inner ear immune responses. Laryngoscope 1986; 96: 685–91.