Cytokines and Adhesion Molecules in Middle Ear Cholesteatoma. A Role in Epithelial Growth?

Abstract

The immune response is thought to play a role in dysregulating epithelial growth in cholesteatoma of the middle ear. Through immunohistochemistry (using 18 monoclonal antibodies) on 10 specimens from human middle ear cholesteatomas, T-helper cells mixed with plasma cells, macrophages and scattered T-suppressor and B cells, have been detected in the perimatrix. Mast cells have also been identified in the perimatrix, usually close to the epithelium. Elements positive for D-related human leukocyte antigens (HLA-DR) were more than half of the immune cells. The endothelium of the perimatrix showed a sharp reactivity to the intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM1) and to the endothelial derived leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (ELAM1), which play a role in recluting inflammatory cells and modulating the immune response. The expression of ICAM1 in the basal layer of the matrix indicates the homing of inflammatory reactions at the epithelial-stromal junction of the cholesteatoma. An intense expression of interferon-gamma receptor (IFN