Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Endolymphatic Sac Luminal Fluid in Patients with Meniere’s Disease and Controls

Abstract

Introduction Meniere’s disease (MD) is known to be caused by the dysfunction of the endolymphatic sac (ES), but its molecular mechanism is unknown. Methods We performed a comparative proteomic analysis of ES luminal fluids (ELFs) from patients with MD and controls. Results We found 6 differentially expressed proteins, including 2 significantly increased proteins and 4 significantly decreased proteins, 8 proteins identified exclusively in at least 7 of the 8 ELF samples from MD patients and 3 proteins detected solely in at least 4 of the 5 ELF samples from controls. Discussion The increased levels of IGLV 3–9 and IGLV1-47 in MD group compared with control group suggested an increased inflammatory reactions and a decreased level of Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 in MD group compared with control group might result in oxidative damage and inflammatory lesions in the ES of MD. Whereas CD44 identified exclusively in MD samples might be involved in the metabolism of its ligand, hyaluronic acid for overproduction of endolymph in the ES of MD.