Abstract
The symptoms of Meniere’s disease (MD) are generally considered to be related to endolymphatic hydrops (EH). There are many recent reports supporting the possibility that vasopressin (VP) is closely linked to the formation of EH in Meniere’s disease. Based on this, we developed a clinically relevant animal model of Meniere’s disease in which a VP type 2 receptor agonist was administered after electrocauterization of the endolymphatic sac. We report live imaging of the internal structure, and functional changes of the inner ear after electrocauterization of the endolymphatic sac and administration of a VP type 2 receptor agonist. In this model, the development of EH was visualized in vivo using optical coherence tomography, there was no rupture of Reissner’s membrane, and low-tone hearing loss and vertiginous attacks were observed. This study suggested that acute attacks are caused by the abrupt development of EH. This is the first report of live imaging of the development of EH induced by the administration of a VP type 2 receptor agonist.
Highlights
The symptoms of Meniere’s disease (MD) are generally considered to be related to endolymphatic hydrops (EH)
Meniere’s disease (MD) is a well-known inner ear disorder characterized by several symptoms, including recurring attacks of vertigo typically lasting for hours, fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss, and tinnitus
There is considerable evidence that water homeostasis in the inner ear is partly regulated via the vasopressin-aquaporin 2 (VP-AQP2) s ystem[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13] as follows: (1) plasma levels of arginine VP are higher in patients with MD and may depend on the phase that the patient is in[3,5,6], (2) acute and chronic application of arginine VP produces EH in guinea pigs and rats[4,7,10], (3) V2 receptor mRNA is expressed in the rat and human inner e ar[8,11,12,13], and (4) expression of V2 receptor mRNA in the rat inner ear is down-regulated by VP a pplication[9]
Summary
The symptoms of Meniere’s disease (MD) are generally considered to be related to endolymphatic hydrops (EH). We report live imaging of the internal structure, and functional changes of the inner ear after electrocauterization of the endolymphatic sac and administration of a VP type 2 receptor agonist. In this model, the development of EH was visualized in vivo using optical coherence tomography, there was no rupture of Reissner’s membrane, and lowtone hearing loss and vertiginous attacks were observed. We investigated the inner ear function, and observed the internal structure using OCT in vivo after electrocauterization of the endolymphatic sac and administration of VP type 2 receptor agonist. This study was approved by the Tokyo University Animal Care and Use Committee
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