Exogenous delivery of neurotrophic factors into the cochlea of deafened animals rescues spiral ganglion cells (SGCs) from degeneration. To be clinically relevant for human cochlear implant candidates, the protective effect of neurotrophins should persist after cessation of treatment and the treated SGCs should remain functional. In this study, the survival and functionality of SGCs were investigated after temporary treatment with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Guinea pigs in the experimental group were deafened, and 2 weeks later, the right cochleae were implanted with an electrode array and drug delivery cannula. BDNF was administered to the implanted cochleae during a 4-week period via a mini-osmotic pump. After completion of the treatment, the osmotic pumps were removed. Two weeks later, the animals were killed and the survival of SGCs was analyzed. To monitor the functionality of the auditory nerve, electrically evoked auditory brainstem responses (eABRs) were recorded in awake animals throughout the experiment. BDNF treatment resulted in enhanced survival of SGCs 2 weeks after cessation of the treatment and prevented the decreases in size and circularity that are seen in the untreated contralateral cochleae. The amplitude of the suprathreshold eABR response in BDNF-treated animals was significantly larger than in deafened control animals and comparable to that in normal-hearing control animals. The amplitude in the BDNF-treated group did not decrease significantly after cessation of treatment. The eABR latency in BDNF-treated animals was longer than normal and comparable to that in deafened control animals. These morphological and functional findings demonstrate that neurotrophic intervention had a lasting effect, which is promising for future clinical application of neurotrophic factors in implanted human cochleae.

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In animal models of deafness, administration of an aminoglycoside in combination with a loop diuretic is often applied to produce a rapid loss of cochlear hair cells. However, the extent to which surviving hair cells remain functional after such a deafening procedure varies. In a longitudinal electrocochleographical study, we investigated the variability of cochlear function between and within guinea pigs after combined administration of kanamycin and furosemide. Concurrently, histological data were obtained at 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks after deafening treatment. The main measures in our study were compound action potential (CAP) thresholds, percentage of surviving hair cells and packing density of spiral ganglion cells (SGCs). One day after deafening treatment, we found threshold shifts widely varying among animals from 0 to 100 dB. The variability decreased after 2 days, and in 18 out of 20 animals threshold shifts greater than 55 dB were found 4-7 days after deafening. Remarkably, in the majority of animals, thresholds decreased by up to 25 dB after 7 days indicating functional recovery. As expected, final thresholds were negatively correlated to the percentage of surviving hair cells. Notably, the percentage of surviving hair cells might be predicted on the basis of thresholds observed one day after deafening. SGC packing density, which rapidly decreased with the period after deafening treatment and correlated to the percentage of surviving inner hair cells, was not a determining factor for the CAP thresholds.

BackgroundHearing depends on correct functioning of the cochlear hair cells, and their innervation by spiral ganglion neurons. Most of the insight into the embryological and molecular development of this sensory system has been derived from animal studies. In contrast, little is known about the molecular expression patterns and dynamics of signaling molecules during normal fetal development of the human cochlea. In this study, we investigated the onset of hair cell differentiation and innervation in the human fetal cochlea at various stages of development.ResultsAt 10 weeks of gestation, we observed a prosensory domain expressing SOX2 and SOX9/SOX10 within the cochlear duct epithelium. In this domain, hair cell differentiation was consistently present from 12 weeks, coinciding with downregulation of SOX9/SOX10, to be followed several weeks later by downregulation of SOX2. Outgrowing neurites from spiral ganglion neurons were found penetrating into the cochlear duct epithelium prior to hair cell differentiation, and directly targeted the hair cells as they developed. Ubiquitous Peripherin expression by spiral ganglion neurons gradually diminished and became restricted to the type II spiral ganglion neurons by 18 weeks. At 20 weeks, when the onset of human hearing is thought to take place, the expression profiles in hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons matched the expression patterns of the adult mammalian cochleae.ConclusionsOur study provides new insights into the fetal development of the human cochlea, contributing to our understanding of deafness and to the development of new therapeutic strategies to restore hearing.

To date, most research performed in the area of spinal cord injury focuses on treatments designed to either prevent spreading lesion (secondary injury) or to enhance outgrowth of long descending and ascending fiber tracts around or through the lesion. In the last decade, however, several authors have shown that it is possible to enhance locomotor function after spinal cord injury in both animals and patients using specific training paradigms. As a first step towards combining such training paradigms with pharmacotherapy, we evaluated recovery of function in adult rats sustaining a spinal cord contusion injury (MASCIS device, 12.5 mm at T8), either housed in an enriched environment or in standard cages (n = 15 in both groups). The animals in the enriched environment were stimulated to increase their locomotor activity by placing water and food on opposite sides of the cage. As extra stimuli, a running wheel and several other objects were added to the cage. We show that exposure to the enriched environment improves gross and fine locomotor recovery as measured by the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale, the BBB subscale, the Gridwalk, and the Thoracolumbar height test. However, no group differences were found on our electrophysiological parameters nor on the amount of spared white matter. These data justify further studies on enriched housing and more controlled exercise training, with their use as potential additive to pharmacological intervention.