Acute otitis media (AOM) and otitis media with effusion (OME) are common diseases in childhood. Alloiococcus otitidis is a newly recognized species of gram-positive bacterium which was recently discovered as a pathogen associated with OME. Although some studies show that A. otitidis is frequently detected in children with OME, no study is available concerning the clinical efficiency of antibiotics against this organism. The prevalence of A. otitidis in 116 middle ear effusion specimens from 36 AOM and 52 OME patients was examined by culture and PCR. In addition, the prevalence of the bacterium was retrospectively investigated in relation to antibiotic use. A. otitidis was detected in 20 (50%) AOM and 47 (61%) OME specimens. The organism was the most frequent bacterium in AOM as well as in OME and was highly detected even in patients who had been treated with antibiotics, such as beta-lactams or erythromycin. The incidence of A. otitidis in our study was higher than that in Western countries, and our results suggest that drug-resistant strains of A. otitidis may be frequently spread in Japanese children. Our study suggests that antibiotics such as beta-lactams or erythromycin may not be sufficiently effective to eliminate this organism. Further investigation is expected to reveal the clinical role of the organism in otitis media.Acute otitis media (AOM) and otitis media with effusion (OME) are common diseases and important otological problems in childhood (3, 4). Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis are the three major pathogens in AOM as well as in OME (4,20).In 1989, an unknown gram-positive coccus was recovered from middle ear effusions of children with OME (6). This organism was determined to be a new species of bacterium by 16S rRNA analysis and was named Alloiococcus otitis (1); later the name was revised to Alloiococcus otitidis (9). This organism is difficult to detect in middle ear effusions by conventional culture, because it shows slow growth in vitro and could hinder recovery of the organism from clinical specimens (6). On the other hand, by PCR, A. otitidis was detected in about 50% of OME patients, a higher rate than for the three major pathogens (2, 14). These studies suggest that A. otitidis is one of the major pathogens of OME.However, only a limited number of studies of A. otitidis have been conducted, and no clinical study of A. otitidis is available, although a few studies are available concerning the prevalence or the bacteriological character of this organism. Studies concerning the prevalence of A. otitidis in OME have been performed only in Finland (13,14,18) and in the United Kingdom (2). Other than in these two countries, only a few clinical strains of A. otitidis have been isolated in the United States (5, 6), Turkey (16), Spain (8), and Brazil (5). In Asian countries, even the isolation of A. otitidis has not been reported yet. In addition, as regards the detection of A. otitidis in AOM patients, only the study by Leskinen et al. (19) is available...

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Alloiococcus otitidis is a recently discovered bacterium frequently associated with otitis media. However, no study is available as to whether A. otitidis has a pathogenic role and induces local immune response in the middle ear as a true pathogen. Whole bacterial sonicate of A. otitidis was separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane. Then, Western blot analysis was performed with supernatant of the middle ear effusions from children with A. otitidis-positive otitis media. SDS-PAGE of the bacterial sonicate showed several protein bands, designated A1-A11. Western blot analysis revealed the presence of IgG, secretory IgA, IgG2, and IgM against A. otitidis in the middle ear effusions. Absorption of the specimens with sonicates of other major middle ear pathogens did not alter the reactivity of antibodies against the alloiococcal antigens. The results suggest that specific local immune response against A. otitidis is induced during middle ear infection of the organism as a true pathogen. A5, A6 or A11 is expected to be a main antigenic determinant. This is the first report to show evidence of local antibody response against A. otitidis and to disclose antigenic components of A. otitidis.

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