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Patricia A. Schachern, BS; Vladimir Tsuprun, PhD; Sebahattin Cureoglu, MD; Patricia Ferrieri, MD; David E. Briles, PhD; Michael M. Paparella, MD; Steven Juhn, MD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2009;135(7):657-661.

Objective  To investigate the effects of the virulence characteristics of specific pneumococcal proteins on the inner ear.

Main Outcome Measures  A histologic comparison of inflammatory cell infiltration and pathologic changes in the round window membrane and inner ear.

Results  Most of the animals inoculated with high-dose pneumolysin or wild-type bacteria showed severe pathologic changes of the inner ears. The inner ears of most animals inoculated with surface protein A or surface antigen A–deficient bacteria appeared normal.

Conclusions  Pneumococcal surface protein A and pneumococcal surface antigen A are 2 important virulence factors in inner ear damage secondary to pneumococcal otitis media. Mutation of these virulence factors results in less inner ear damage.

Author Affiliations: Departments of Otolaryngology (Ms Schachern and Drs Tsuprun, Cureoglu, Paparella, and Juhn) and Pediatrics and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (Dr Ferrieri), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; and Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham (Dr Briles).

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