Results

Treg/Th17 imbalance was found in peripheral blood and middle ear of OME patients (PC group)
We collected middle ear effusion from 14 OME patients (PC) with underlying allergic disease and peripheral blood from 14 healthy volunteers (NC). The concentrations of TGF- /IL-10 and Th17 marker cytokine IL-17/IL-6 in serum were measured by ELISA. Compared with NC group, the level of IL-6 (IL-6:18.79±3.35 vs. 23.59±.57 pg/ml) and IL-17 (IL-17:7.62±1.96 vs.1.51±0.47 pg/ml) in PC group was significantly higher (P&LT;0.001); However, level of IL-10 (1.63±0.38 vs. 3.93±0.43pg /ml) and TGF- (17.94±3.01 vs.62.04±2.65pg/ml) was decreased in PC group (P<0.001). The levels of IL-6(45.95±5.18 vs.18.79±3.35) and IL-17(18.61±1.21 vs.7.62±1.96) in PC group were significantly higher than that of the peripheral serum. In PC group, the levels of cytokines IL-10 (0.48±0.41 vs.1.62±0.38) and TGF-β (7.43±1.81 vs.17.94±3.01) were decreased (P<0.001). The above results suggest that the pathogenesis of OME is not only the local allergy of the middle ear, but also the systemic allergy. The abnormal immune response affects the differentiation direction of T cells, resulting in imbalance of Treg/Th17 and finally the local stimulation in the middle ear, which may be one of the causes of OME.