Meniere's disease is an inner ear disorder that can manifest as fluctuating
vertigo,
sensorineural hearing loss,
tinnitus, and aural fullness. However, the pathologic mechanism of
Meniere's disease is still unclear. In this study, we evaluated autoimmunity as a potential cause of
Meniere's disease. In addition we tried to find useful
biomarker candidates for diagnosis. We investigated the
protein composition of human inner ear fluid using liquid column mass spectrometry, the autoimmune reaction between circulating
autoantibodies in patient serum and multiple
antigens using the Protoarray system, the immune reaction between patient serum and mouse inner ear tissues using western blot analysis. Nine
proteins, including
immunoglobulin and its variants and
interferon regulatory factor 7, were found only in the inner ear fluid of patients with
Meniere's disease. Enhanced immune reactions with 18 candidate
antigens were detected in patients with
Meniere's disease in Protoarray analysis; levels of 8 of these
antigens were more than 10-fold higher in patients than in controls. Antigen-antibody reactions between mouse inner ear
proteins with molecular weights of 23-48 kDa and 63-75 kDa and patient sera were detected in 8 patients. These findings suggest that autoimmunity could be one of the pathologic mechanisms behind
Meniere's disease. Multiple
autoantibodies and
antigens may be involved in the autoimmune reaction. Specific
antigens that caused immune reactions with patient's serum in Protoarray analysis can be candidates for the diagnostic
biomarkers of
Meniere's disease.