TGFB1 and chronic otitis media: Upregulation of TGF-β1 has been confirmed in some animal models with otic damage, including ototoxicity and antigen injection, chronic otitis media (Satoh et al., 2006; Wissel et al., 2006; Ghaheri et al., 2007) and NIHL (Murillo-Cuesta et al., submitted).