Increased antisecretory factor reduces vertigo in patients with Ménière's disease: a pilot study

It has been hypothesized that the symptoms of vertigo in patients with Ménière's disease somehow are related to impaired production and/or transport of endolymph. Antisecretory factor (AF) is a protein known to affect transport processes in the intestine and it has been shown that intake of specially processed cereals (SPC) can increase endogenous AF synthesis. In a prospective open pilot study, 24 patients with severe Ménière's disease (functional level scale 5-6 according to the criteria of AAO-HNS) received SPC for 14-30 days. AF levels in plasma increased by 83% in 20 of the 24 patients studied. The attacks of rotatory vertigo were reduced, to final AAO-HNS functional level scale 1-3, in 12 patients and in three of these hearing was normalized. Twelve patients had no or minor effects of the treatment. The correlation between AF activity after treatment and the final AAO-HNS functional level scale was -0.65, P<0.001. Studies in rats using immunohistochemistry methods showed that AF was localized to the cochlea and the vestibule of the inner ear. The present results suggest that AF might be a new regulator of the endolymph.