Viral Infection and Serum Antibodies to Heat Shock Protein 70 in the Acute Phase of Ménière’s Disease

Ménière's disease (MD) is an idiopathic inner-ear disorder characterized by fluctuating hearing loss, episodic vertigo, and tinnitus. Though MD's etiology is unknown, growing evidence suggests that autoimmunity may be involved in its development. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the presence of anti-heat shock protein 70 (anti-HSP70) antibodies during the acute phase of MD and to relate its presence to the antibody pattern. We examined the sera of 13 patients by Western blot immunoassays for reactivity to bovine inner-ear antigen (anti-HSP70) antibodies. The presence of viral antibodies and autoantibodies (herpes simplex, types 1, 2; herpes zoster; cytomegalovirus; Epstein-Barr; IgM; IgG; cardiolipin; thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase; and antinuclear, antimitochondrial, and anti-smooth-cell antibodies) were also tested. We found reactivity to HSP70 in only 1 of the 13 MD patients (7.7%), and it occurred during herpes zoster reactivation. We found no relationship between the presence of antibodies to HSP70 and immunological or viral testing.