Biochemical and Bioimaging Evidence of Cholesterol in Acquired Cholesteatoma.

Objectives: To quantify the barrier sterols and image the lipid structures in the matrix of acquired cholesteatoma and compare the distribution with that found in stratum corneum from normal skin, with the goal to resolve their potential influence on cholesteatoma growth.

Methods: High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) was used to achieve a quantitative biochemical determination of the sterols. The intercellular lipids were visualized by Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy, which enables label-free imaging of the lipids in intact tissue samples.

Smoking is associated with increased levels of extracellular peptidylarginine deiminase 2 (PAD2) in the lungs.

Objectives: Smoking is a well-established risk factor in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and citrullination of self-antigens plays a pathogenic role in the majority of patients. Increased numbers of peptidylarginine deiminase 2 (PAD2)-containing macrophages have been demonstrated in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from smokers, but intracellularly located PAD cannot be responsible for citrullination of extracellular self-antigens. We aimed to establish a link between smoking and extracellular PAD2 in the lungs.

Surfactant proteins A, B, C and D in the human nasal airway: associated with mucosal glands and ciliated epithelium but absent in fluid-phase secretions and mucus.

Aims: To investigate the presence of surfactant protein (SP) A, B, C and D in nasal airways and to determine whether the proteins exert their main functions in nasal secretions or in the deeper layers of the nasal mucosa.

Methods: Volunteers were recruited from the Department of ENT Head and Neck Surgery, Odense University Hospital, Denmark. The study included 39 subjects.

Promising results after balloon dilatation of the Eustachian tube for obstructive dysfunction.

Introduction: As the first ear, nose and throat department in Denmark, we introduced balloon dilatation of the Eustachian tube as a treatment of obstructive dysfunction in the summer of 2012. We present our preliminary experiences with this new treatment in adults.

Material And Methods: Preoperatively, several different tests were performed including otomicroscopy, audiometry, tympanometry and Toynbee's test.

Complement defects in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.

The complement system is an important part of our immune system, and complement defects lead generally to increased susceptibility to infections and autoimmune diseases. We have studied the role of complement activity in relation with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), and more specifically studied whether complement defects collectively predispose individuals for CRS or affect CRS severity. The participants comprised 87 CRS patients randomly selected from the general population, and a control group of 150 healthy blood donors.