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Biochemical evidence of platelet‐activating factor (paf) in human middle ear effusions
Author(s) -
Furukawa Masayuki,
Kubo Nobuo,
Yamashita Toshio
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1288/00005537-199502000-00015
Subject(s) - effusion , platelet activating factor , medicine , otitis , serous fluid , platelet , middle ear , pathogenesis , immunology , pathology , surgery
Platelet‐activating factor (PAF) is one of the most potent biological lipid mediators. This is especially true in relation to inflammation. In order to characterize the biochemical features of otitis media with effusion, the authors characterized and determined the concentration of the PAF present in human middle ear effusions obtained from 23 patients with otitis media with effusion. Each sample of middle ear effusion was divided into two groups: serous (n = 12) and mucoid effusions (n = 11). The platelet‐activating factor activity was found mainly in mucoid middle ear effusions, and the amounts of PAF were higher in mucoid type (3.55 ± 1.19 ng/g, mean ± standard deviation [SD]) than in the serous type (0.44 ± 0.19 ng/g). Phospholipids obtained from the middle ear effusions contained a large amount of lyso‐platelet‐activating factor, the biologically inactive precursor or breakdown product of platelet‐activating factor. Based on these findings, it is suggested that platelet‐activating factor may play an important role as a mediator of the inflammatory responses in the pathogenesis of otitis media with effusion.