INTERFERON-PRODUCTION BY LEUKOCYTES IN CHILDREN WITH OTITIS-MEDIA WITH EFFUSION

We have previously shown that leukocyte cultures of children suffering from recurrent respiratory tract infections produce less interferon ( IFN) than those of healthy children. In the present study this tentati ve marker of recurrent infections was used to study the pathogenetic b ackground of otitis media with effusion (OME). Altogether 57 consecuti ve children, aged 2-11 years, who came for tympanostomy and/or adenoid ectomy were divided into three subgroups: 25 of them had OME and a his tory of recurrent acute otitis media (rAOM/OME+), 20 had OME without a n infectious background (inf-/OME+), and 12 had a history of recurrent upper respiratory infections (inf+/OME-) without OME. All the childre n were free of acute illness at the time of sampling. Differences betw een the groups were seen in IFN yields when leukocyte cultures were st imulated with adeno-, rhino-, corona-, respiratory syncytial or influe nza A viruses. Leukocytes from inf-/OME+ children produced more IFN th an those of the other two groups. Though no sex differences in the IFN responses were seen among rAOM/OME+ and inf+/OME- children, leukocyte s from inf-/OME+ girls produced significantly higher amounts of IFN th an those of inf-/OME+ boys, or rAOM/OME+ and inf+/OME- children. These differences between clinically different groups of children support t he view that the etiology of OME can be heterogeneous.