Establishment of experimental and clinical evidences for a link between tonsillar focal diseases and palatine tonsil

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K11372
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Otorhinolaryngology
• Research Institution: Asahikawa Medical College
• Principal Investigator: Takahara Miki 旭川医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (50322904)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 長門 利純 旭川医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (80431419)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 扁桃病巣疾患 / 掌蹠膿疱症 / IgA腎症 / APRIL / CX3CR1

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) and IgA nephropathy (IgAN) are known as typical tonsillar focal diseases, and tonsillectomy has been reported to be effective for improvement of the symptoms and findings. Unfortunately, this disease concept was not widely known. We try to establish experimental and clinical evidence for a link between tonsillar focal diseases and palatine tonsil, and enlighten other doctors on the concept. In this serious of studies, we showed the effectiveness of tonsillectomy for PPP skin lesions by objective evaluation. Moreover, we found that APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand) was involved in hyper-production of IgA from the IgAN patients tonsils, and that chemokine receptor CX3CR1 was related to homing of tonsillar T-cells to the lesions of glomerulus.

Free Research Field

扁桃病巣疾患

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

学術的意義として今まで主観的評価が主だった掌蹠膿疱症の扁摘効果が客観的にも示された。またIgA腎症と扁桃を結びつける基礎的根拠が液性免疫、細胞性免疫両面から示された。社会的意義としてこれらの研究結果の発表や報告を読んで、本疾患群に興味を持ち、概念を理解する医師が増加する可能性がある。更には適応患者の耳鼻咽喉科への紹介、耳鼻咽喉科での手術、その結果、疾患から解放される患者が増加する可能性が示された。