Middle ear cavitation and mesenchymal clearance: links with deafness and otitis media

作为人类五种感官之一，听觉不仅具有重要的生物学功能，而且对我们融入社会也至关重要。在世界范围内，造成儿童轻中度听力障碍的主要原因是慢性中耳炎（中耳炎）。在英国，每年大约有20万儿童反复遭受中耳感染。在发达国家，为对抗中耳炎而植入通气管是儿童手术的最常见原因，也是医疗保健服务的一个重大负担。鉴于受影响的个体数量和慢性OM的衰弱性质，更好地了解可能影响OM发病的因素是至关重要的。中耳间充质的异常存在与慢性中耳炎密切相关。在正常耳发育过程中，中耳的间充质组织丢失，形成一个充满空气的腔。在这项拨款中，我们希望研究为什么间充质在一些儿童的耳朵中保留，使用老鼠作为模型。我们将研究中耳腔通常是如何形成的，在没有移除间质的情况下会出现什么问题，然后尝试纠正这个缺陷。这项工作将有助于我们对中耳疾病的认识，并旨在开创新的治疗方法。

As one of the five human senses, hearing not only has critical biological function, but is also crucially important for our integration within society. Worldwide the main cause of mild to moderate hearing impairment in children is chronic middle ear inflammation (otitis media). In the UK around 200,000 children suffer from repeated middle ear infections each year. In the developed world, implantation of ventilation tubes to combat otitis media is the most common reason for surgery in children and is a substantial burden on the healthcare services. Given the number of individuals affected, and the debilitating nature of chronic OM, it is vital that a better understanding of the factors that can influence the onset of OM are addressed. The abnormal presence of mesenchyme in the middle ear has been shown to be closely linked with chronic cases of otitis media. During normal ear development mesenchymal tissue is lost from the middle ear to create an air-filled cavity. In this grant we wish to study why mesenchyme remains in the ears of some children, using the mouse as a model. We will investigate how the middle ear cavity normally forms, what goes wrong in cases where the mesenchyme is not removed, and will then try and correct this defect. This work will help our understanding of middle ear disease, and aims to initiate new methods to treat problems.