FeNO levels were elevated even in well-controlled asthmatics with ECRS, whereas asthmatics without ECRS and ECRS patients without asthma did not have high FeNO levels (>50 ppb). Although FeNO levels were not correlated with asthma severity, they were positively correlated with the sinus CT score. In asthmatics with ECRS, patients with higher FeNO levels had more severe ECRS and asthma. There is a possibility of having comorbid ECRS, particularly in asthmatics with high FeNO levels even after adequate treatment, including ICS, suggesting that asthma and ECRS may be closely associated as one airway disease with eosinophilic inflammation. Continual awareness of the coexistent ECRS is ideally recommended for asthmatics with high FeNO levels.

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Inferior colliculus (IC) is a major center for the integration and processing of acoustic information from ascending auditory pathways. Damage to the IC as well as normal aging can impair auditory function. Novel strategies such as stem cell (SC)-based regenerative therapy are required for functional recovery because mature neural cells have a minimal regenerative capacity after an injury. However, it is not known if there are neural stem cells (NSCs) in the IC. Herein, we screened for NSCs by surface marker analysis using flow cytometry. Isolated IC cells expressing prominin-1 (CD133) exhibited the cardinal NSC properties self-renewal capacity, expression of known NSC markers (SOX2 and nestin), and multipotency. Prominin-1-expressing cells from neonatal IC generated neurospheres, and culture of these neurospheres in differentiation-conditioned medium gave rise to gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic (GABAergic) neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. The presence of NSC-like cells in the IC has important implications for understanding IC development and for potential regenerative therapy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12035-017-0701-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In all, 1% of cells in the CN were detected as BrdU-positive. SP cells were detected at a frequency of 4.4% and expressed stem/progenitor markers, Abcb1b, Abcg2, Sca1, Notch1, Notch4, Hes1, and Jag1 in microarray analysis. Expression of Abcb1b, Abcg2, Sca1,Oct3/4, and Sox2 as determined by RT-PCR was supported by the microarray data. CN cells also had sphere-forming activity in young mice, but this activity was decreased by aging.

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