Özet:

Background: Inflammation due to irritation of cigarette smoke causes metaplasia of the squamous epithelium of the Eustachian tube. Data on the prevalence and incidence of Eustachian tube dysfunction are still limited. The study aims to determine the effect of exposure to a stratified dose of cigarette smoke on the histopathological changes of the Eustachian tubes of Wistar rats. Method: This study was a true experimental study with post-test only control group design using Wistar rats as the subjects. We included 24 Wistar rats in the study and divided them into four groups. The number of Wistar rats in each group was 6. The control group was not exposed to cigarette smoke. The treatment group 1, 2, and 3 were each exposed to four cigarettes, eight cigarettes, twelve cigarettes per day for thirty days, respectively. We assessed the Eustachian tube histopathological changes using four parameters, namely inflammatory cells, cilia, goblet cells, and epithelium. Finally, we analyzed the data using the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney test. Result: The Eustachian tube's histopathological changes occurred in inflammatory cells, cilia, goblet cells, and epithelial metaplasia. Group 1 showed grade 1 changes in all parameters assessed. Group 2 showed grade 2 changes in all parameters evaluated. Meanwhile, group 3 showed grade 3 changes in all parameters evaluated compared to other groups (p<0.05). There was a significant difference between the treatment group and the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Cigarette smoke with stratified doses affects the histopathological changes of the Eustachian tube.

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