Monocytes, Macrophages, and Microglia and the Role of IL-1 in Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED)

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED) is a rare disease of unknown etiology characterized by a sudden decline in hearing. Although AIED is initially responsive to corticosteroid therapy, this response is lost over time. We recently demonstrated in a small cohort of corticosteroid-resistant AIED patients that IL-1 was overexpressed in the plasma and that IL-1 antagonism led to hearing improvement and reduction in circulating IL-1. Autoinflammatory diseases, such as Muckle-Wells syndrome (MWS), are diseases of the innate immune system whose phenotype includes sensorineural hearing loss. Monocytes are the primary cells orchestrating the inflammatory response in this family of diseases, due to a gain-of-function mutation that causes excessive IL-1 release.

Recent Findings

We have observed that monocytes from AIED patients release excessive IL-1 and behave similarly to monocytes from Muckle-Wells patients, despite the lack of pathogenic mutations and other characteristic phenotypic manifestations. Unlike MWS, we have observed substantially greater hearing improvement with IL-1 antagonism than hearing improvement reported in MWS.

Summary

The role of monocytes, macrophages, and microglia and the cytokines they secrete are of critical importance in both understanding disease mechanism and identification of novel therapeutic targets to treat chronic inflammatory diseases of the cochlea such as AIED.

from #ORL-AlexandrosSfakianakis via ola Kala on Inoreader https://ift.tt/2JOpn46