The Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Effects of Curcumin in Middle Ear Infection.

AIM: To investigate and analyze the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant efficacy of curcumin in experimentally induced middle ear infection. METHOD: Twenty-four Wistar albino rats with otomicroscopic examination findings within normal limits were included in the study. Study groups were established after Streptococcus pneumoniae was inoculated into the middle ear cavity of all rats. No medication was administered to Group 1, the control group. Group 2 was administered 50 mg/kg/day amoxicillin intraperitoneally. Group 3 was administered 50 mg/kg/day amoxicillin together with 30 mg/kg/day curcumin intraperitoneally. Blood specimens and temporal bones were collected on the 10th day of medication from the 22 rats in which acute otitis media developed. Serum glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities and malondialdehyde levels were measured. Inflammatory cell infiltration, vascular proliferation, and epithelial proliferation were assessed histopathologically in middle ear mucosa specimens, and the results were compared among the groups. RESULTS: Malondialdehyde levels in the group given curcumin were significantly lower than those of the control group, while serum glutathione peroxidase activity was also lower compared to that of the control group. No significant difference was observed among the groups in terms of superoxide dismutase activity. Although there were no significant findings in terms of histopathological data, epithelial proliferation in the groups receiving antibiotherapy was suppressed compared to the control group. Similarly, curcumin was observed to have a positive effect on inflammatory cell infiltration. No significant changes were observed in terms of vascular proliferation. CONCLUSION: With its wide and safe dose range, curcumin represents grounds for optimism in terms of anti-inflammatory treatment in acute otitis media.

Assessment of tinnitus with tinnitus severity index, tinnitus handicap inventory and distortion product otoacoustic emissions in patients with normal hearing and hearing loss.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to assess ears with tinnitus and without distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) in patients with and without hearing loss and to classify the tinnitus symptoms on the basis of tinnitus severity index (TSI) and tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) in both groups. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 102 patients with tinnitus symptoms were included in the study. Of these patients, 48 had (32 males, 16 females; mean age 45±8.9 years) normal hearing and 54 patients (42 males, 12 females; mean age 52±12.1 years) had hearing loss. Pure tone audiogram, high-frequency audiometer and DPOAE were applied to patients. Tinnitus symptoms of patients were assessed with TSI and THI. RESULTS: Significantly higher tinnitus severity was monitored in group with hearing loss compared with group with normal hearing (p=0.024). There was a significant similarity in the frequencies affected from tinnitus between the groups (p<0.001). The TSI and THI showed significant similar results between two groups (p<0.001). A significant decrease was found in ears with tinnitus in frequencies of 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, 3000 Hz, 4000 Hz and 6000 Hz with DPOAE compared to the ears without tinnitus in group with normal hearing (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our study results show that patients with TSI and THI are affected by tinnitus at the same rate in daily life whether they have hearing loss or not, but those with hearing loss have a higher tinnitus severity. Decreased DPOAE responses can be found in patients with normal hearing, which can be more profound in low-frequency tinnitus, particularly.

Fat graft myringoplasty with the newly developed surgical technique for chronic tympanic membrane perforation.

The purpose of this prospective clinical trial was to evaluate the success rate of our newly developed surgical technique for fat graft myringoplasty (FGM). We also aimed to assess the correlations between the size of perforations and closure rates, as well as the results of re-gained hearing in successful cases with respect to sizes of perforations. Thirty consecutive patients with persistent tympanic membrane perforation were included in this study. All patients underwent fat graft myringoplasty with a newly developed technique. Treatment success was defined as an intact tympanic membrane (TM) at the 3-month follow-up visit. Bone conduction (BC) and air conduction (AC) thresholds at the frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4 kHz were recorded preoperatively and at the 3rd month postoperatively. The range of perforation sizes among the 30 patients was 7 mm in 13 of the patients (43 %), 6 mm in 8 of the patients (27 %), and 5 mm in nine of the patients (30 %). Closure of tympanic membrane perforations with this new technique was achieved in 27 out of the 30 patients, with a success rate of 90 %. The average of the air-bone gap (dB) was similar in preoperative and postoperative periods for 5- and 6-mm sized perforation groups (p = 0.09 and p = 0.49). However, in the 7-mm sized perforation group, the average of the air-bone gap (dB) was higher in the preoperative period than the postoperative period (p = 0.004). The average of the air-bone gap (dB) for all patients was higher in the preoperative period than the postoperative period (p = 0.001). In conclusion, FGM performed with this technique may be used as an alternative for the closure of tympanic membrane perforations larger than 5 mm.

Paraoxonase Activity and Oxidative Status in Patients with Tinnitus.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate serum paraoxanase-1 (PON) activity, total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), and the oxidative stress index (OSI) in tinnitus; and to compare the results with data from healthy subjects. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 114 subjects-54 patients with tinnitus and 60 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Serum PON activity, TOS, TAS, and OSI levels were measured. RESULTS: In the tinnitus group, TAS, and PON were significantly lower than in the control group (p<0.001). However, the TOS, and OSI levels were significantly higher in the tinnitus group than in the control group (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: According to the data obtained from the present study, patients with tinnitus were exposed to potent oxidative stress. Oxidative stress may be the key contributing factor to the pathogenesis of tinnitus.

Isolated fibrous dysplasia of the ethmoid sinus.

Fibrous dysplasia is a benign fibro-osseous lesion progressing with one or more bone involvements in the skeleton. Even though it is a benign tumor, it may potentially transform into a malignant one. While the most frequently involved zones in the head-neck zone include the maxilla, mandible, parietal, occipital, and temporal zones, the involvement of the ethmoid bone is rather rare. This article presents the case of a female patient who was diagnosed with fibrous dysplasia in the right ethmoid sinus based on the paranasal computerized tomography scan that was taken due to the symptoms of pain around the right eye, pressure, and a feeling of being pushed.