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. 2025 Apr 12.
doi: 10.1007/s00405-025-09391-z. Online ahead of print.

circ_0006168 expression serves as a potential biomarker of acquired middle ear cholesteatoma

Chen Liu  1 , Bo Ning  1 , Bing Liu  1 , Liangjun Cheng  1 , Huachao Li  1 , Mei Ma  2
Affiliations

circ_0006168 expression serves as a potential biomarker of acquired middle ear cholesteatoma

Chen Liu et al. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. .

Abstract

Objective: Acquired middle ear cholesteatomas (AMECs) is a pathological condition characterized by abnormal epithelial cell proliferation in the middle ear, often resulting from retraction pocket and epithelial migration theories. The aim of this study was to find the abnormal expressed circular RNAs (circ_RNAs) in AMECs and explore their role in the inflammatory response of AMECs.

Methods: Thirty-two AMECs patients and 32 healthy volunteers were recruited. Expression levels of circ_RNAs and inflammatory genes were quantified via reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in human AMECs or normal post-auricular skin samples were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: Results showed that circ_0006168 was higher expressed in AMECs. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that circ_0006168 might serve as a sensitive biomarker for diagnosing AMECs. Besides, AMECs samples showed increased inflammatory cytokines concentrations. Thirty-two AMECs patients were divided into the High (N = 17) and Low (N = 15) groups according to the expression of circ_0006168. The High group patients had more tinnitus and severe hearing loss than the Low group.

Conclusion: In summary, our findings suggested that circ_0006168 exacerbated inflammatory responses in AMECs, suggesting that circ_0006168 might be a potential biomarker in AMECs.

Keywords: Acquired middle ear cholesteatomas; Circ_0006168; Cytokines; Inflammatory response.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical approval for this study was granted by the Ethics Committee of Xuzhou Central Hospital, and all participants provided written informed consent prior to their involvement. This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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