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Middle ear myoclonus tinnitus is an abnormal sound perceived by unusual contraction of the stapes muscle or tensor tympani muscle. The current diagnostic methods include medical history inquiry, physical examination and audiological tests. The diagnosis was confirmed by tympanic exploration of myoclonus. Etiological treatment is considered to be the first treatment of choice, supplemented by behavior therapy and pharmacotherapy. Surgery will be performed when conservative treatment fails. This article reviews the diagnosis and treatment of middle ear myoclonus tinnitus., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.)

Objectives: Presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss (ARHL) has been a common disability disease among the elderly population. It is particularly essential to identify the underlying role of related risk factors for ARHL diagnosis and treatment. Observational studies have shown that cardiovascular disease may be a factor in ARHL. Serum lipids are a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it may be a potentially influencing factor for elderly deafness. We conduct the study to analyze the causal relationship between serum lipids and European elderly deafness., Design: Using genetic variation data related to serum lipids (total cholesterol levels [TCL], total triglycerides levels [TGL], and lipoprotein fractions, including apolipoprotein A1 levels [APOA1L], apolipoprotein B levels [APOBL], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels [HDL], and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels [LDL]) as instrumental variables, the outcome events were summarized from the genome-wide association study data of elderly deafness, and Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was used in our analysis. The relationship between serum lipids levels and ARHL was analyzed using five methods, including inverse variance weighted, weighted mode, MR-Egger, weighted median, and simple mode. The study aims to use bidirectional MR analysis., Results: Among all 5 methods, no significant causal effects were found between serum lipids (TCL OR = 0.936, p = .488; TGL OR = 0.955, p = 0.657; APOA1L OR = 0.864, p = .061; APOBL OR = 0.979, p = .786; HDL OR = 0.998, p = .979; LDL OR = 1.089, p = .281) and presbycusis., Conclusion: The findings of MR causal inference analysis did not support the causal relationship between presbycusis and serum lipids, including cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipoprotein fractions (APOA1L, APOBL, HDL and LDL)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are serious skin injuries whereby the wound healing process is frequently stalled in the inflammatory phase. Currently, there is a lack of effective therapeutic strategies. MCC950, a highly selective nod-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inhibitor, has been reported to show strong anti-inflammation effects in many diseases. In this study, we unveiled the role of MCC950 in DFU mice model and its underlying molecular mechanisms. MCC950 could significantly accelerate diabetic wound healing, as shown by shortened healing time and better healing quality. Moreover, increased M2 phenotype macrophages and decreased pro-inflammatory genes were observed in MCC950-treated DFU mice. Additionally, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) were significantly increased in blood, spleen and wound tissues at different time courses. Specifically, MCC950 could recruit more MDSCs in an early phase in DFU mice, exerting an anti-inflammation effect. We identified the cell crosstalk between macrophages and MDSCs with MCC950 treatment process. Depleting MDSCs in vivo could eliminate the therapeutic effect of MCC950 on diabetic wound healing through inhibiting M2 macrophage polarization. Besides, MDSCs isolated from the wounds of MCC950 or saline treated mice were cocultured with bone marrow derived macrophage (BMDM) in a transwell system. Results confirmed that MDSCs sorted from MCC950 treated mice caused a significant increased percentage of M2 macrophages. Collectively, our findings suggest that the administration of MCC950 has the potential to accelerate diabetic wound healing by promoting M2 macrophage polarization in an MDSC-dependent manner. This study provides valuable insights into the utilization of pharmacological agents for DFU treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Chronic subjective tinnitus is a worldwide intractable problem. In our previous studies, customized music therapy combined with a follow-up system can reduce tinnitus perception and improve anxiety/depression. This study aims to explore which characteristics of tinnitus patients are more likely to benefit from our therapy., Study Design: This study included 1031 patients with chronic subjective tinnitus, all of whom completed customized music therapy with the follow-up system. Population demographics, tinnitus characteristics, and tinnitus-related scales at pretherapy and posttherapy were collected., Setting: Huadong Hospital affiliated Fudan University, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery from 2018 to 2022., Methods: A paired t test and the one-way analysis of variance were utilized to the overall efficacy and stratified difference based on tinnitus duration/age/tinnitus frequency., Results: There were significant statistical differences in the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Tinnitus Loudness Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)-A/D scores between pretherapy and 3 months posttherapy. THI and HADS (A/D) scores decreased the most in the 1-year duration tinnitus group. The most significant decrease in THI and VAS scores was observed in the 31- to 50-year-old tinnitus group. Patients with high-frequency tinnitus and extended high-frequency tinnitus had greater decreases generally than those with low-frequency tinnitus though no significance., Conclusion: Group with severe and prolonged tinnitus, shorter duration of tinnitus onset, and 31 to 50 years old benefit more from our therapy. Therefore, standardized personalized music and consulting and follow-up systems while promoting early treatment can reduce tinnitus and its comorbidities., Competing Interests: There is no potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (© 2024 The Author(s). OTO Open published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.)

Plasma cell mastitis (PCM) is a sterile inflammatory condition primarily characterized by periductal inflammation and ductal ectasia. Currently, there is a lack of non-invasive or minimally invasive treatment option other than surgical intervention. The NLRP3 inflammasome has been implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of various inflammatory diseases, however, its involvement in PCM has not yet been reported. In this study, we initially observed the pronounced upregulation of NLRP3 in both human and mouse PCM tissue and elucidated the mechanism underlying the attenuation of PCM through inhibition of NLRP3. We established the PCM murine model and collected samples on day 14, when inflammation reached its peak, for subsequent research purposes. MCC950, an NLRP3 inhibitor, was utilized to effectively ameliorate PCM by significantly reducing plasma cell infiltration in mammary tissue, as well as attenuate the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-2, and IL-6. Mechanistically, we observed that MCC950 augmented the function of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which in turn inhibited the infiltration of plasma cells. Furthermore, it was noted that depleting MDSCs greatly compromised the therapeutic efficacy of MCC950. Collectively, our findings suggest that the administration of MCC950 has the potential to impede the progression of PCM by augmenting MDSCs both numerically and functionally, ultimately treating PCM effectively. This study provides valuable insights into the utilization of pharmacological agents for PCM treatment., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Clinically, we find that tinnitus patients often have hearing loss. According to the most accepted mechanism of tinnitus, that is, the spontaneous discharge and abnormal synchronization of neurons after afferent reduction, tinnitus frequency is closely related to the frequency of hearing loss., Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation of tinnitus pitch with the frequency of hearing loss., Materials and Methods: A total of 500 patients with unilateral or bilateral chronic tinnitus were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent pure tone audiometry (PTA) and tinnitus acoustic examination. Hearing loss levels and frequencies were recorded. The relationship between tinnitus pitch and hearing loss level and frequency was statistically analyzed., Results: Our results showed that 96.6% of the 500 tinnitus patients had hearing loss. Statistical analysis showed that low frequency (LF) tinnitus was correlated with LF hearing loss, but moderate frequency & high frequency (MF&HF) tinnitus was not significantly associated with MF&HF hearing loss. The coincidence of tinnitus pitch with the highest hearing threshold correlated with the degree of hearing loss., Conclusion and Significance: The vast majority of patients with chronic subjective tinnitus had hearing loss, and the frequency of tinnitus correlated with the degree and frequency of hearing loss but not exactly fall within the frequency range of hearing loss.

Backgrounds: Tinnitus is a meaningless sound signal perceived by the patients in the absence of auditory stimuli. Due to the complex etiology and unclear mechanism, specific therapies for tinnitus are still in the exploratory stage. In recent years, personalized and customized music therapy has been proposed as an effective method for tinnitus treatment. The aim of this study was to explore the efficacy of customized therapy with a well-designed follow-up system in the treatment of tinnitus through a large sample one arm study and to identify the relevant factors affecting the treatment outcome., Methods: The study investigated a total of 615 patients with unilateral or bilateral chronic tinnitus who received personalized and customized music therapy for 3 months. A complete follow-up system was designed by the professionals. Questionnaires of Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were used to evaluate the therapeutic effects and relevant factors affecting the efficacy of therapy., Results: The results showed a decreasing trend in THI and VAS scores after 3 months of therapy, with statistically significant differences between pre- and post-therapy time points (P < 0.001). All patients were divided into 5 groups according to THI scores, and the mean reduction score in catastrophic, severe, moderate, mild and slight group was 28, 19, 11, 5, 0 respectively. The proportion of tinnitus patients with anxiety was higher than that with depression (70.57% and 40.65%, respectively), and there were statistically significant differences between HADS-A/D scores pre- and post-therapy. Binary logistic regression showed that the baseline of THI, VAS scores, the duration of tinnitus and the state of anxiety prior to therapy were significant influencing factors of therapeutic efficacy., Conclusions: The magnitude of reduction in THI scores after music therapy depended on the severity of the patients' tinnitus, the higher the initial THI scores, the greater the potential for improvement in tinnitus disorders. Music therapy also reduced the anxiety and depression levels of tinnitus patients. Therefore, personalized and customized music therapy with a comprehensive follow-up system may be an effective treatment option for chronic tinnitus patients., (© 2023. The Author(s).)