Recent Research Trend for Ménière's Disease / 대한평형의학회지

ABSTRACT

Ménière's disease is a poorly understood disorder of the inner ear characterized by intermittent episodic vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, ear fullness and tinnitus. In this paper, we present a review of the histopathology, cytochemistry, gene, blood-labyrinthine barrier and imaging of Ménière's disease. Histopathology is significant for neuroepithelial damage with hair cell loss, basement membrane thickening, perivascular damage and microvascular damage. Cytochemical alterations are significant for altered AQP4 and AQP6 expression in the supporting cell, and altered cochlin and mitochondrial protein expression. Since the discovery of aquaporin water channels (AQP1, AQP2, AQP3, AQP4, AQP5, AQP6, AQP7 and AQP9), it has become clear that these channels play a crucial role in inner ear fluid homeostasis. Several gene studies related to Ménière's disease have been published, but there is no clear evidence that Ménière's disease is associated with a special gene. Currently, imaging techniques to determine the extent and presence of endolymphatic hydrops are being studied, and further studies are needed to correlate the visualization of the endolymphatic hydrops with clinical symptoms.