Saturated hydrogen saline protects against noise–induced hearing loss

Abstract

Abstract Objective To study effects of saturated hydrogen saline in preventing noise–induced hearing loss. Methods Fifteen guinea pigs were randomly divided into 3 groups (5 each), group one was for control, group two was treated with normal saline and group three was treated with saturated hydrogen saline, which was given intraperitoneally at 1 hour before noise exposure at 1 ml/100 g. One hundred rounds of impulse noise (157 dB SPL peak) were delivered as noise exposure. Immediately after exposure to impulse noise and on Days 1, 2, 4 and 8 following exposure, auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds were measured. Outer hair cell morphological changes and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity were examined on Day 8 post–exposure. Results Immediately after noise exposure, ABR thresholds in saturated hydrogen saline treated animals were lower than the non–treated animals (P Conclusions Intraperitoneal injection of saturated hydrogen saline appears to protect the cochlea against noise–induced damage.