Gene Therapy for Hearing Protection

Abstract

Objective. Inhibition of inflammation and free radical formation in the cochlea may be involved in antioxidant treatment in acute acoustic trauma. Procedure. Chinchilla were exposed to 105 dB sound pressure level octave band noise for 6 hours. One group of chinchilla was treated with antioxidants after noise exposure. Auditory brainstem responses, outer hair cell counts, and immunohistochemical analyses of biomarkers in the cochlea were conducted. Results. The antioxidant treatment significantly reduced hearing threshold shifts, outer hair cell loss, numbers of CD45 + cells, as well as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal and nitrotyrosine formation in the cochlea. Conclusion. Antioxidant treatment may provide protection to sensory cells by inhibiting formation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen products and migration of mononuclear phagocytes in the cochlea. The present study provides further evidence of effectiveness of antioxidant treatment in reducing permanent hearing loss.