Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a type I hypersensitivity reaction of the nasal mucosa, primarily mediated by IgE, with a complex etiology, determined by genetic and environmental interactions. Several mechanisms by which AR affect middle ear and cause conductive hearing loss have been well described. There is paucity of data regarding involvement of inner ear in AR patients leading to sensorineural hearing loss. However, endolymphatic sac and outer hair cells have been hypothesized to be the seat of immunoreactivity. To study the audiological profile in AR and effect of AR on inner ear functions. 100 cases of AR patients (55 males, 45 females, mean age group 21-30 years) and 100 controls (65 males, 35 females, mean age group 41-50 years) were enrolled in study. All underwent thorough clinical ear, nose and throat examination, diagnostic nasal endoscopy and otoendoscopy, followed by audiological assessment including pure tone audiometry, tympanometry and oto-acoustic emission test. Hearing results of both the groups were compared and analysed statistically. Thirty two patients among case group had sensorineural hearing loss, pronounced at 4000 and 8000 Hz frequencies. 18 patients showed conductive hearing loss in the form of type B or type C tympanogram. 32 patients of AR patients showed unusual oto-acoustic emission test. We found higher prevalence of high frequency sensorineural hearing loss in pure tone audiometry and abnormal OAEs in patients having upper airway allergy. The likely seat of damage appears to be the inner ear as evidenced by recordings of OAE in allergic patients.

Leucine rich repeat containing G protein-coupled receptor 5(Lgr5) is widely expressed in multiple tissues and can be used as a stem cell marker in a variety of epithelial organs (including the small intestine, colon, stomach and hair follicles). In this study, we used Lgr5-CreERT2+/- and Rosa26-mTmG hybridized transgenic mice to investigate the expression of Lgr5 in both ductal epithelial cells during pancreas development and in vitro cultured pancreatic duct organoids. After induction with Tamoxifen, the Lgr5 expression was analyzed by detecting the enhanced green fluorescence protein in the pancreatic tissue sections in adult animals and embryos at different developmental stages. The results showed that Lgr5 expression was detected neither in adult pancreatic duct epithelia nor in the embryonic pancreatic tissues at day 15.5 or in newborn mice. However, when 4-hydroxy-Tamoxifen was supplemented to the culture medium, EGFP could be detected in the primary pancreatic duct organoids from Lgr5-Cre ERT2+/-; Rosa26-mTmG mice. These results suggested that Lgr5 was not expressed in adult and embryonic pancreatic tissues; but could be expressed in the cultured pancreas ductal organoids. The research lays the foundation for exploring specific gene expression patterns in stem/progenitor cells during pancreatic development.
富含亮氨酸重复序列G蛋白偶联受体5 (leucine-rich repeat containing G protein-coupled receptor 5, Lgr5)在体内分布广泛,可以作为多种上皮组织(包括小肠、结肠、胃和毛囊)中干细胞的标记物。为了探究小鼠(Mus musculus)胰腺发育过程中导管上皮细胞及体外培养的胰腺导管类器官中Lgr5的表达情况,本研究利用Lgr5-CreERT2+/-和Rosa26-mTmG杂交后的转基因小鼠,经Tamoxifen (他莫昔芬)诱导后,观察不同发育阶段胰腺组织切片的荧光表达情况,并通过三维培养建立成体小鼠胰腺导管类器官,观察诱导后类器官细胞中的荧光变化。结果显示：Tamoxifen诱导的正常成体转基因小鼠胰腺导管内未检测到表达Lgr5的细胞;通过对孕鼠及哺乳母鼠注射Tamoxifen,在胚胎发育15.5 d和新生小鼠胰腺中也未发现Lgr5阳性细胞;但是将4-hydroxy- Tamoxifen (4-羟基-他莫昔芬)添加到培养基中,在Lgr5-CreERT2+/-;Rosa26-mTmG转基因小鼠胰腺导管来源的类器官中检测到部分细胞表达Lgr5。本研究结果证实,在成体及胚胎胰腺组织中没有检测到Lgr5表达,但在体外培养的胰腺导管类器官细胞中检测到Lgr5表达。本研究为探索胰腺发育过程中干/祖细胞特异性表达基因奠定了基础。.