Expression of caspase-8 and its significance in human middle ear cholesteatoma

Objective To study expression of caspase-8 in human middle ear cholesteatoma and its roles in the pathogenetic mechanisms of human middle ear cholesteatoma. Methods Immunohistochemistry and Western Blot tech-niques were used to examine expression of caspase-8 in 36 specimens of middle ear cholesteatoma and 20 samples of normal external ear canal skin. Results Expression of caspase-8 was extremely higher in middle ear cholesteatoma than in normal external canal skin (P 0.01). Conclusicon Caspase-8 may play an important role in human middle ear cholesteatoma, maybe through deregulation of apoptosis and proliferation in middle ear cholesteatoma.