No Increased Serum Levels of Antifood Antibodies in Patients with Ménière’s Disease

Abstract

The etiology of Ménière’s disease (MD) is still unknown, but it is likely to be multifactorial, one of the factors being an immunological causation. Antifood allergens as well as anti-baker’s yeast antibodies are humoral factors that may be linked with allergenic disorders and other autoimmune conditions. To determine their possible role in MD activity, we investigated 29 MD sera for the presence of antibodies against gliadin, β-lactoglobulin, albumin, ovalbumin, soya, and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains using an ELISA technique. The patients were compared with 29 healthy individuals matched for sex and age. A serum was regarded as positive if the absorbance was two standard deviations higher than values obtained with sera from healthy subjects. Historical data, including factors which the patients believed to provoke their Ménière’s symptoms, were obtained from patients’ questionnaires. MD patients showed no significant symptoms of allergenic disorders suggesting allergies when compared to controls (p > 0.05). IgG and IgA antibody levels were not significantly raised in MD patients as compared with healthy controls (p > 0.05) for gliadin, β-lactoglobulin, soya, albumin, ovalbumin, and D. pteronyssinus and S. cerevisiae strains. These data do not convincingly support a hypothesis of increased serum levels of antifood antibodies in patients with MD, as very few patients were antibody positive.

A systematic review of the clinical evidence for an association between type I hypersensitivity and inner ear disorders

“…The answer to our main question posed at the beginning of this work (“Is there a relationship between allergic diseases and inner ear disorders?”) is “yes.” All but two papers ( 49 , 57 ) found supportive evidence of a possible association between allergy and inner ear disorders. The backing evidence included an increased prevalence of allergic disorders (airborne or food allergies) in persons with MD, ISSHL, and ALHL ( 48 , 50–54 ) and an increased prevalence of inner ear disorders in AR patients ( 15 , 56 , 58 , 59 ) when compared to the control groups or general population.…”

“…Six studies (28.6%) included in this review investigated immune parameters in patients with inner ear disease ( Table 3 ). Boulassel et al ( 49 ), Keles et al ( 50 ), and Roomiani et al ( 55 ) focused on MD patients. Keles et al and Roomiani et al showed that MD patients had a higher concentration of total serum IgE than healthy subjects or patients with otologic disorders other than MD.…”

“…Boulassel et al ( 49 ), however, showed that MD patients had no significant increase in specific IgG and IgA antibodies against common allergens [gliadin, ß-lactoglobulin, soy, albumin, ovalbumin, DPT (house dust mite), and S. cerevisiae ]. Yet, in contrast to the other publications, Boulassel et al determined antibody titers in serum by ELISA, and did not used SPT to identify IgE sensitization.…”

“…In the first paper that did not provide supportive evidence for the link between allergies and inner ear disorders, the authors used serum samples from MD patients to investigate the levels of typical food allergen-specific IgG and IgA but did not explore the levels of total or specific IgE ( 49 ). Therefore, it cannot be concluded that the food allergy does not affect MD patients ( 66 ).…”

Use of Electrocochleography for Assessing Endolymphatic Hydrops in Patients with Lyme Disease and Me´nie`re's Disease

“…Although Ménière's disease was described as long ago as 1860, it is still an obscure disease entity rather than a uniform disease and can be caused by a variety of etiological factors (4,9,10). Ménière's disease is often associated with the presence of EH, but the presence of EH does not exclude other etiologies.…”