Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Testing dog ear wax to check inflammation in ear infections
By Yoon, Ji-Seon & Park, Jinho·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2024·Biosafety Research Institute and Laboratory of Veterinary Deramtology, South Korea·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Non-invasive evaluation of cytokine expression using the cerumen of dogs with otitis externa.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with ear infections (otitis externa) had their earwax (cerumen) tested to see if it could reveal information about inflammation in their ears. The study found that dogs with more severe infections had higher levels of certain inflammatory markers (cytokines) in their earwax compared to healthy dogs. This suggests that testing earwax could be a useful, non-invasive way to assess the severity of ear infections in dogs. The findings could help veterinarians better understand and treat ear problems in pets.
People also search for: dog ear infection treatment · how to clean dog ears · symptoms of otitis externa in dogs
Abstract
The development of a non-invasive method to analyze cytokine expression in the skin will provide further understanding of inflammatory skin disorders. This study aimed to evaluate cytokine expression in the skin through cerumen swabbing in dogs with otitis externa (OE) and to investigate whether increased cytokine expression in infected OE reflects the inflammatory status of the ear canal. Three groups consisting of control dogs ( = 24), dogs with ceruminousOE ( = 25), and dogs with suppurative bacterial OE ( = 15) were included in the study. The concentrations of keratinocyte-derived cytokines including Interleukin (IL)-8/chemokine ligand (CXCL)8, IL-10, IL-6, Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and IL-1ß in the cerumen of the ear canal of the included patients were analyzed using commercial ELISA kits. Additionally, correlations between cytokine levels and cytology scores (ofyeasts, cocci/rod-shaped bacteria, and inflammatory cells) were assessed. IL-8/CXCL8 concentrations were significantly higher in dogs with ceruminousOE and dogs with suppurative bacterial OE than in control dogs. Furthermore, IL-8/CXCL8 concentrations positively correlated withscores in dogs with ceruminous OE ( = 0.630) and with bacterial scores in dogs with suppurative OE ( = 0.601). In addition, increased expression of IL-6 and IL-1ß were detected in dogs with suppurative bacterial OE compared to those withOE and control dogs, and showed positive correlation with inflammatory cell scores IL-6 = 0.520, IL-1ß; = 0.680). Therefore, keratinocyte-derived cytokines could be evaluated using non-invasive methods such as cerumen swabbing in dogs with OE.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38464701/