Expressions of OPG and RANKL in a Rat Model of Tympanosclerosis

HUANG Hong-ming; WU Pei-na; CUI Yong; GE Run-mei; ZHANG Lue

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1672-2922.2013.02.033

Abstract： Objective The aim of this study was to investigate expression of OPG and RANKL in the tympanic mucosa of experimental tympanosclerosis and the regulative effects of the OPG/RANKL system on the pathogenesis of tympanosclero-sis in rats. Methods A total of 30 healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a modeling (n=20) and a control group (n=10). Tympanosclerosis was induced by inoculating 0.05 mL of solution containing 1×108 CFU/ml strepto-coccus pneumonia into the right middle ear in the 20 rats in the modeling group. Rats in the control group received no inocula-tion. All animals were sacrificed at the end of 8 weeks. The right tympanic bulla was harvested and stained immunohistochem-ically to detect OPG and RANKL expression. Result None of the 10 rats in the control group showed tympanosclerosis. A to-tal of 17 rats in the modeling group survived after eight weeks and 13 showed tympanosclerosis. The level of OPG expression in tympanic mucosa was significantly higher in the modeling group than in the control group (P<0.05).The OPG and RANKL expression ratio in tympanic mucosa was also significantly higher in the modeling group than in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion OPG/RANKL system may play a regulative role in the development of tympanosclerosis in rats. The increased OPG to RANKL ratio may be related to the development of tympanosclerosis in rats.