This is an Innovation Seed Fund grant awarded to Dr Michael Mather at Newcastle University in 2024.
Background
The most common cause of hearing loss in children is a build-up of fluid behind the ear drum, which is known as glue ear. The medical name for glue ear is otitis media with effusion (often abbreviated to OME). There is no medicine that can get rid of the build-up of fluid.
Treatment for glue ear usually consists of either hearing aids to amplify sounds (which does not remove the fluid), or surgery. The surgery involves making an incision in the ear drum and placing a small plastic tube (called a grommet) through it. The surgeon may also remove tonsil-like tissue called adenoid tissue from the back of the nose at the same time. The surgery requires a general anaesthetic. There are risks associated with it, including developing a permanent hole in the ear drum and experiencing infections after the operation.
Recent work has shown that children with glue ear have lower amounts of an infection-fighting protein called Immunoglobulin A (or IgA) in their adenoid. The adenoid is part of the immune system and protects the body from infections that enter through the nose or mouth. Increasing levels of IgA protein in the adenoid might help children resist infections, preventing inflammation developing in their ear and thus reducing the risk of glue ear.
One way to do this could be ‘training’ the infection-fighting adenoid tissue with a vaccine spray delivered to the nose. If successful, this would avoid the cost, risk, and delay in treatment that is currently incurred with surgery. To prove that this is a viable treatment option, the first step is to test adenoid cells in the lab for their response to infectious bacteria.
Aims
The researchers will use excess tissue taken from children undergoing routine surgery to remove their adenoids (some of whom have glue ear). They will grow the adenoid tissue in the lab and then introduce a typical bacteria associated with glue ear to the cells. They will measure how much IgA protein the cells make to see if there is a difference between children with glue ear and those without.
Benefit
This project will lead to the development of a method to grow and study adenoid tissue in the lab which will aid glue ear research. It will also provide information about whether adenoids from children with glue ear fail to produce adequate levels of IgA protein in response to common infections. It could ultimately lead to the development of nasal adenoid vaccines to treat or prevent glue ear.