중이진주종에서 Telomerase의 발현

Background and Objectives: Telomerase maintains the length of telomeres in immortal cell and also is often associated with cell proliferation. Cholesteatoma epithelium is characterized by a dysregulation with a hyperproliferative growth. We studied to evaluate of the telomerase activity in cholesteatoma and normal retroau- ricular skin and to know the relationship between telomerase expression and clinical findings. Materials and Methods: Twenty-two cholesteatomas and fifteen retroauricular skins were obtained from patients undergoing middle ear surgery. The detection of telomerase activity was done by TRAP assay methods. To know the relationship between telomerase expression and clinical findings, author analyzed clinical findings including hearing level, duration of disease, and degree of extension retrospectively. Results: Seventeen of 22 cholesteatoma (77.3%) expressed telomerase activity, whereas none of 15 retroauricular normal skin (0%) detected telomerase activity. There was no any significant differences between clinical findings including hearing level, duration of disease, and degree of extension, and telomerase activity (p>0.05). Conclusion: The highly expression of telomerase in cholesteatoma suggests that the telomerase activation may be related with the proliferative nature in cholesteatoma. (J Clinical Otolaryngol 2005;16:66–72)