Hearing research · 2026
A hole in the chain: Synchrotron MicroCT reveals a stapes footplate gateway to the inner ear in murine otitis media.
СтатьяНазвание и аннотация: Перевод пока не подготовлен
Обработка статьи · этапы, ошибки и управление
Загрузка состояния…
Ошибки и ограничения
История · было → стало
Состояние обновляется каждые 5 секунд, пока блок открыт. Процент показывается только там, где известен объём работы. Пауза останавливает продолжение этапа; текущий запрос к источнику может завершиться.
Cobas Diana, Villa Jordan, Carriero Alessandra, Rau Christoph, Marathe Shashidhara, Cury Joaquin, Stutzmann Grace E, Richter Claus Peter
Аннотация
BACKGROUND: Otitis media (OM) can cause conductive and sensorineural hearing loss through ossicular damage and cochlear injury. Yet the structural time course remains poorly characterized, and rodent hearing studies rarely assess middle ear disease, despite its potential to confound sensorineural hearing loss assessment.
OBJECTIVE: To characterize ossicular chain changes in acute and chronic OM using synchrotron micro-computed tomography (microCT) and identify routes of middle-to-inner-ear spread of infection.
METHODS: Bilateral OM was induced in mice by intranasal inoculation with Bordetella pseudohinzii; controls received intranasal phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Ears were evaluated at 7 days (acute OM, N= 8) or 28 days (chronic OM, N= 11) post-inoculation, with 9 control ears. Temporal bones were imaged with synchrotron microCT (effective pixel size: 1.625 µm, resolution: > 3.3 µm), segmented, and reconstructed in 3D. Ossicles were assessed for erosion, perforation, dislocation, or fracture at defined landmarks. Group differences were compared using a cluster permutation test, and p-values were adjusted using the Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) procedure.
RESULTS: Structural abnormalities occurred across all OM groups, with the incus and stapes most affected. Abnormalities of the incus body and short process, as well as the malleolar apophysis, were observed. Stapes footplate erosion was absent in controls but was seen in all the acute-OM ears here investigated (8), decreasing to 27.3% (3/11) at chronic time points.
CONCLUSIONS: The stapes footplate is vulnerable to full-thickness erosion starting at acute time points. This site may harbor persistent biofilm-related disease in humans and is an important confounding variable in rodent hearing research on middle ear health. Future research should examine fluid or substance passage through the footplate defect into the inner ear.
OBJECTIVE: To characterize ossicular chain changes in acute and chronic OM using synchrotron micro-computed tomography (microCT) and identify routes of middle-to-inner-ear spread of infection.
METHODS: Bilateral OM was induced in mice by intranasal inoculation with Bordetella pseudohinzii; controls received intranasal phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Ears were evaluated at 7 days (acute OM, N= 8) or 28 days (chronic OM, N= 11) post-inoculation, with 9 control ears. Temporal bones were imaged with synchrotron microCT (effective pixel size: 1.625 µm, resolution: > 3.3 µm), segmented, and reconstructed in 3D. Ossicles were assessed for erosion, perforation, dislocation, or fracture at defined landmarks. Group differences were compared using a cluster permutation test, and p-values were adjusted using the Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) procedure.
RESULTS: Structural abnormalities occurred across all OM groups, with the incus and stapes most affected. Abnormalities of the incus body and short process, as well as the malleolar apophysis, were observed. Stapes footplate erosion was absent in controls but was seen in all the acute-OM ears here investigated (8), decreasing to 27.3% (3/11) at chronic time points.
CONCLUSIONS: The stapes footplate is vulnerable to full-thickness erosion starting at acute time points. This site may harbor persistent biofilm-related disease in humans and is an important confounding variable in rodent hearing research on middle ear health. Future research should examine fluid or substance passage through the footplate defect into the inner ear.