Open AccessSerum Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 Variations in Young Children with Acute Otitis Media
Author(s) -
Keyi Liu,
Janet R. Casey,
Michael E. Pichichero
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
clinical and vaccine immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.649
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1556-6811
pISSN - 1556-679X
DOI - 10.1128/cvi.00194-10
Subject(s) - moraxella catarrhalis , haemophilus influenzae , streptococcus pneumoniae , medicine , immunology , otitis , immune system , acute otitis media , microbiology and biotechnology , moraxella (branhamella) catarrhalis , biology , antibiotics , surgery
Acute otitis media (AOM) is an inflammatory reaction in the middle ear, most often occurring in young children.Streptococcus pneumoniae , nontypeableHaemophilus influenzae , andMoraxella catarrhalis are the most common bacteria isolated. Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) is involved in the innate immune response to infection by microorganisms, in effective antigen presentation, and in subsequent T-cell activation. Here we prospectively studied levels of serum soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) before, at the time of, and after antimicrobial treatment of AOM in a group of 138 children ages 6 to 30 months. Middle ear fluids were collected by tympanocentesis to identify otopathogens. We found that (i) serum levels of sICAM-1 were significantly higher inS. pneumoniae -, nontypeableH. influenzae -, andM. catarrhalis -infected children than in well children (P < 0.001), confirming that a systemic inflammatory response occurs during AOM; (ii) sICAM-1 levels varied from no elevation (110 ng/ml) to elevation to high levels (maximum, 1,470 ng/ml) among children with AOM; (iii) in paired samples, sICAM-1 levels increased 4- to 20-fold when children developed AOM compared to their sICAM-1 levels before infection; and (iv) the level of sICAM-1 returned to the pre-AOM level at the convalescent stage of AOM after successful antimicrobial therapy. We conclude that AOM often causes a systemic inflammatory reaction, as measured by elevation of the serum sICAM-1 level, and that a high variability in sICAM-1 responses occurs with the presence of otopathogens during AOM.