{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T21:45:46Z","timestamp":1788817546914,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,16]],"date-time":"2022-08-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1660608000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Soda Toyoji Memorial Foundation"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The epipharynx, located behind the nasal cavity, is responsible for upper respiratory tract immunity; however, it is also the site of frequent acute and chronic inflammation. Previous reports have suggested that chronic epipharyngitis is involved not only in local symptoms such as cough and postnasal drip, but also in systemic inflammatory diseases such as IgA nephropathy and myalgic encephalomyelitis\/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME\/CFS) and Long COVID. Epipharyngeal Abrasive Therapy (EAT), which is an effective treatment for chronic epipharyngitis in Japan, is reported to be effective for these intractable diseases. The sedation of chronic epipharyngitis by EAT induces suppression of the inflammatory cytokines and improves systemic symptoms, which is considered to be one of the mechanisms, but there is no report that has proved this hypothesis. The purpose of this study was to clarify the anti-inflammatory effect of EAT histologically. The study subjects were 8 patients who were not treated with EAT and 11 patients who were treated with EAT for chronic epipharyngitis for 1 month or more. For immunohistochemical assessment, the expression pattern of IL-6 mRNA, which plays a central role in the human cytokine network, was analyzed using in situ hybridization. The expression of IL-6 in the EAT-treated group was significantly lower than those in the EAT nontreated group (p = 0.0015). In addition, EAT suppressed the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF\u03b1), a crucial proinflammatory cytokine. As a result, continuous EAT suppressed submucosal cell aggregation and reduced inflammatory cytokines. Thus, EAT may contribute to the improvement of systemic inflammatory diseases through the suppression of IL-6 expression.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms23169205","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,16]],"date-time":"2022-08-16T23:44:25Z","timestamp":1660693465000},"page":"9205","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Epipharyngeal Abrasive Therapy (EAT) Reduces the mRNA Expression of Major Proinflammatory Cytokine IL-6 in Chronic Epipharyngitis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4052-0855","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kensuke","family":"Nishi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Otolaryngology, Department of Medicine, Fukuoka Dental College, Fukuoka 814-0193, Japan"},{"name":"Nishi Otolaryngology Clinic, Fukuoka 814-0031, Japan"},{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shohei","family":"Yoshimoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Pathology, Department of Morphological Biology, Division of Biomedical Sciences, Fukuoka Dental College, Fukuoka 814-0193, Japan"},{"name":"Oral Medicine Research Center, Fukuoka Dental College, Fukuoka 814-0193, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Soichiro","family":"Nishi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nishi Otolaryngology Clinic, Fukuoka 814-0031, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tatsuro","family":"Nishi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nishi Otolaryngology Clinic, Fukuoka 814-0031, Japan"},{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ryushiro","family":"Nishi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nishi Otolaryngology Clinic, Fukuoka 814-0031, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Takayuki","family":"Tanaka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Otolaryngology, Department of Medicine, Fukuoka Dental College, Fukuoka 814-0193, Japan"},{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Toshiyuki","family":"Tsunoda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kazuaki","family":"Imai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mirai Clinic, Fukuoka 812-0013, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hiroaki","family":"Tanaka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tanaka Hiroaki Clinic, Fukuoka 814-0142, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Osamu","family":"Hotta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Internal Medicine, Hotta Osamu Clinic (HOC), Sendai 984-0013, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ayaki","family":"Tanaka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tanaka ENT Clinic, Osaka 553-0006, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3496-6087","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kenji","family":"Hiromatsu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Senji","family":"Shirasawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Takashi","family":"Nakagawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Takafumi","family":"Yamano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Otolaryngology, Department of Medicine, Fukuoka Dental College, Fukuoka 814-0193, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.4172\/1948-5964.1000168","article-title":"Possible Mechanisms Underlying Epipharyngeal Abrasive Therapy (EAT) with ZnCl2 Solution for the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases and Functional Somatic Syndrome","volume":"9","author":"Hotta","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. 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