Expression of AQP8 in Serum of Patients With Meniere's Disease and Its Value in Evaluating the Degree of Hydrolabyrinth and Predicting Prognosis

ABSTRACT Objective This study aims to explore the role of serum aquaporin 8 (AQP8) expression in evaluating the degree of hydrolabyrinth and predicting prognosis in patients with Meniere's disease. Methods One hundred and five patients diagnosed with Meniere's disease in our hospital were enrolled in the Meniere's disease group. Another 102 healthy subjects were enrolled as the control group. The expression of serum AQP8 mRNA was determined by the quantitative real‐time PCR (qRT‐PCR) method. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was carried out to analyse the predictive value of serum AQP8 mRNA expression for poor prognosis in Meniere's disease patients. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyse the influencing factors of poor prognosis in patients with Meniere's disease. Results The expression level of serum AQP8 mRNA in the Meniere's disease group was significantly higher than that in the control group ( p < 0.05). In the severe hydrops group, serum AQP8 mRNA expression levels were higher than in the mild hydrops group and the no endolymphatic hydrops group. Additionally, the mild hydrops group had higher serum AQP8 mRNA levels than the no endolymphatic hydrops group ( p < 0.05). The disease course, proportion of severe hydrops and serum AQP8 mRNA expression were all higher in the poor prognosis group compared to the good prognosis group ( p < 0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) for serum AQP8 mRNA in predicting poor prognosis in Meniere's disease patients was 0.812 (95% CI : 0.702–0.922). Conclusion AQP8 mRNA is associated with the degree of hydrolabyrinth in patients with Meniere's disease and plays an important role in predicting prognosis.