Yimtae K, Song H, Billings P, Harris J P, Keithley E M
Department of Otolaryngology, Khonkaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.
Laryngoscope. 2001 Sep;111(9):1631-5. doi: 10.1097/00005537-200109000-00026.
The aim of this study was to identify the lymphatic drainage of the inner ear in guinea pigs.
Prospective study.
The prospective study was performed in guinea pigs by injection of keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) into either the right-side scala tympani or the middle ear cavity. The left side was not injected and served as a control. Fifteen minutes after injection, the animals were killed by intracardiac perfusion with paraformaldehyde and tissue specimens (right and left temporal bones, cervical lymph nodes, and the spleen) were collected. The presence of KLH in each specimen was determined by immunohistochemical assay of frozen sections using polyclonal mouse anti-KLH antibodies.
After injection into the middle ear, labeled cells were identified in the parotid, superficial ventral, mandibular, and deep cranial cervical lymph nodes. However, after inner ear injections KLH was present in only the parotid and superficial ventral cervical nodes. The spleen contained KLH-positive cells following injection into either the middle or inner ear, but not all animals contained labeled spleen cells.
The inner ear has a connection to the lymphatic drainage system. Because fewer lymph nodes contained labeled cells after inner ear injection than after middle ear injection, it is concluded that the inner ear does not simply drain to the middle ear and subsequently to the lymph nodes but seems likely to have its own connections.
本研究旨在确定豚鼠内耳的淋巴引流情况。
前瞻性研究。
在前瞻性研究中，向豚鼠右侧鼓阶或中耳腔注射钥孔戚血蓝蛋白（KLH）。左侧未注射作为对照。注射后15分钟，通过心脏灌注多聚甲醛处死动物并收集组织标本（左右颞骨、颈部淋巴结和脾脏）。使用多克隆小鼠抗KLH抗体对冰冻切片进行免疫组织化学测定，以确定每个标本中KLH的存在情况。
中耳注射后，在腮腺、浅腹侧、下颌下和深部颅颈淋巴结中发现标记细胞。然而，内耳注射KLH后，仅在腮腺和浅腹侧颈淋巴结中存在。中耳或内耳注射后脾脏含有KLH阳性细胞，但并非所有动物都含有标记的脾细胞。
内耳与淋巴引流系统存在联系。由于内耳注射后含有标记细胞的淋巴结比中耳注射后少，因此得出结论，内耳并非简单地引流至中耳并随后至淋巴结，而是似乎有其自身的联系。
