![]() Since ciliary motion of the mucosa is important for drainage of the ET and impaired mucociliary function of the ET and respiratory tract mucosa is associated with secretory otitis media, we also measured ciliary beat frequency of the ciliated cells at different locations along the ET in neonatal and adult gerbils using a photodiode-based displacement measurement system. We examined anatomical and ultrastructural changes of the ET and its epithelial lining, the mucosa, in neonatal and adult gerbils. In this study, our goal was to examine the epithelial lining of the ET in neonatal and adult gerbils, with a focus on the morphological and functional development of ciliated cells in the mucosa. Blockage of the ET is the most common cause of all forms of otitis media, which is common in children, partly because the ET is not completely developed.Īlthough the development of some parts of the murine middle ear has been described, , to date, knowledge of the morphological and functional development of the ET mucociliary system is sketchy. Abnormal or impaired function(s) of the ET may cause pathological changes in the middle ear. Additionally, it drains mucus away from the middle ear into the nasopharynx. The ET acts as a passageway to ventilate the tympanic cavity and allows equalization of pressure between the middle ear and pharynx, which is necessary for normal hearing. The Eustachian tube (ET) is a small canal that connects the tympanic cavity with the nasal part of the pharynx. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. ![]() JL has been supported by the Medical Rising Star Cultivation Program of Shanghai Qingpu Health Bureau grant WY2011-14. N/A.įunding: This work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health grant R01 DC004696 to DH, and by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program) (No. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.ĭata Availability: The authors confirm that all data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. Received: MaAccepted: Published: June 12, 2014Ĭopyright: © 2014 Li et al. PLoS ONE 9(6):Įditor: Bernd Sokolowski, University of South Florida, United States of America ![]() The tube is morphologically and functionally mature at P18, when the auditory function (sensitivity and frequency selectivity) is mature in this species.Ĭitation: Li Y, Liu H, Li J, Zhang Q, Gong S, He D (2014) Morphology and Ciliary Motion of Mucosa in the Eustachian Tube of Neonatal and Adult Gerbils. Our study suggests that the Eustachian tube undergoes significant anatomical and histological changes between P1 and P18. Interestingly, the ciliary beat frequency measured from ciliated cells at P1 was not statistically different from that measured from adult animals. At P18, the mucosa appeared to be adult-like. The density of ciliated cells decreased while the density of goblet cells increased during development. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the mucosa contained a high density of ciliated cells with a few goblet cells at P1. During development, the length of the Eustachian tube increased significantly between postnatal day 1 (P1) and P18. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the mucosal member near the pharyngeal side contains a higher density of ciliated cells and goblet cells than that near the tympanic side. The length of the tube is ∼8.8 mm in adult gerbils. In the present study, we examined the epithelial lining of the Eustachian tube in neonatal and adult gerbils, with a focus on the morphological and functional development of ciliated cells in the mucosa. Blockage of the Eustachian tube is the most common cause of all forms of otitis media, which is common in children. The tube serves to equalize air pressure across the eardrum and drains mucus away from the middle ear into the nasopharynx. The epithelial lining of the Eustachian tube contains a ciliated columnar epithelium at the tympanic cavity and a pseudostratified, ciliated columnar epithelium with goblet cells near the pharynx. The Eustachian tube is a small canal that connects the tympanic cavity with the nasal part of the pharynx.
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