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Published on: November 26, 2015
Salicylate ototoxicity and its implications for cochlear microphonic potential generation
Uri Peleg1, Ronen Perez, Sharon Freeman
1Department of Otolarygology-Head & Neck Surgery, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology
|November 1, 2007
Summary
Salicylic acid can cause temporary hearing loss by affecting outer hair cells. Cochlear microphonic potentials (CM) were unaffected, suggesting they reflect an early stage of sound transduction.
Area of Science:
- Ototoxicology
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Cellular Physiology
Background:
- Salicylic acid is known to induce reversible sensorineural hearing loss.
- Its ototoxicity is hypothesized to involve the motor protein prestin in outer hair cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanism of salicylate-induced ototoxicity.
- To differentiate the contributions of various auditory potentials to hearing loss.
Main Methods:
- Auditory nerve brainstem evoked responses, compound action potentials, distortion product otoacoustic emissions, cochlear microphonic potentials (CM), and vestibular evoked potentials were measured.
- Measurements were taken before and after systemic salicylate administration.
Main Results:
- Auditory nerve responses and otoacoustic emissions were depressed by salicylate.
- Cochlear microphonic potentials (CM) and vestibular evoked potentials remained unaffected.
Conclusions:
- The extracellularly recorded CM likely does not represent summed intracellular outer hair cell receptor potentials.
- CM may reflect an early stage of mechano-electrical transduction in outer hair cells, preceding cochlear amplification.
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01:16Anatomy of the Ear
Auditory sensation, commonly called hearing, involves the transformation of sonic waves into neural impulses facilitated by the structures of the auditory organ. The prominent, flesh-like structure on the side of the head, called the auricle, directs sound waves towards the auditory canal. The auricle is often mislabeled as the pinna, a term more aligned with mobile structures like a feline's external ear. The auditory canal penetrates the cranium via the external auditory meatus of the...
01:15Auditory Pathway
Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
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01:22Hair Cells
Hair cells are the sensory receptors of the auditory system—they transduce mechanical sound waves into electrical energy that the nervous system can understand. Hair cells are located in the organ of Corti within the cochlea of the inner ear, between the basilar and tectorial membranes. The actual sensory receptors are called inner hair cells. The outer hair cells serve other functions, such as sound amplification in the cochlea, and are not discussed in detail here.