Published papers

Salivary gland choristoma (ectopic or heterotopic salivary gland tissue) is a rare condition that occurs in various locations within the head and neck regions. We present a 13-year-old boy with a salivary gland choristoma in the middle ear associated with congenital alopecia around the auricle in addition to facial nerve and ossicular chain abnormalities. Because the lesions commonly involve the facial nerve, intraoperative facial nerve monitoring is helpful in allowing safe biopsy without facial nerve damage.

We have previously reported that the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) second messenger system is coupled to purinergic P2y receptors in the cochlear sensory epithelium and lateral wall. The tissues of the cochlear lateral wall (stria vascularis and spiral ligament) are responsible for maintaining the ionic composition of the cochlear endolymph. Both the endolymphatic potential and signal transduction processes are well known to be affected by aging. Furthermore, intracellular inositol concentrations decrease with age in the cochlear sensory epithelia. The present study compared the purinergic receptor-mediated release of inositol phosphates (InsPs) in the cochlear lateral wall of young (3 month-old) and aged (24 month-old) Fischer-344 rats. No differences were found in the incorporation of myo-[3H]inositol into phosphoinositide lipids. Likewise, the purinergic receptor-mediated release of InsPs remained unchanged. This suggests that the InsPs second messenger system in the cochlear lateral wall, in contrast to the sensory epithelium, may not be affected by aging.