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Published on: June 14, 2016
Middle ear epithelial mucin production in response to interleukin-6 exposure in vitro
Joseph E Kerschner1, Tanya K Meyer, Chris Yang
1Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9000 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA. kersch@mcw.edu
Objectives:
To investigate the role of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the regulation of mucin secretion by middle ear epithelia.
Materials And Methods:
Primary chinchilla middle ear epithelial cultures were established and exposed to IL-6 in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Mucin secretion was characterized by exclusion chromatography and liquid scintillation.
Results:
Epithelial cultures exposed to increasing doses of IL-6 demonstrated greater amounts of mucin secretion (p=0.018). Additionally, cultures exposed to IL-6 at 50 ng/ml showed significant increased secretion of mucin over control in time-dependent experiments at 6-, 15- and 24-h time points (p=0.003).
Conclusions:
IL-6 upregulates mucin secretion from cultured middle ear epithelial cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Elucidating the effect of specific cytokines on the regulation of mucin secretion is vital to understanding the pathophysiology of otitis media and the development of novel therapeutic strategies.
