Type II collagen distribution in the monkey ear.

A possible role for type II collagen autoimmunity in the pathogenesis of Meniere's disease and otosclerosis was recently suggested by studies demonstrating anti-type II collagen antibody in the serum of humans with these disorders and by the induction of similar lesions in animals immunized with type II collagen. In light of these findings, we studied the anatomic distribution of type II collagen in the nonhuman primate ear by immunohistochemical techniques using defined monoclonal antibodies to type II collagen. Type II collagen was observed in the cartilage plate of the auricle and external auditory meatus, tympanic annulus, lamina propria of tympanic membrane (pars tensa), interossicular joints, stapes footplate, eustachian tube cartilage, enchondral layer and globuli interossei of the otic capsule, Rosenthal canal, cribriform base, osseous spiral lamina, spiral ligament, limbus, tectorial membrane, semicircular canal membrane and subepithelial layer of the ampullary crista, utricular and saccular maculae, and the endolymphatic duct and proximal part of the sac. Thus, type II collagen should be considered an important component of ear tissue.