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Updated: May 31, 2026
Investigations on Alterations of Hippocampal Circuit Function Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: November 19, 2012
Effects of delayed and extended antioxidant treatment on acute acoustic trauma
Chul-Hee Choi1, Kejian Chen, Xiaoping Du
1Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology & Research Institute of Biomimetic Sensory Control, College of Medical Sciences, Catholic University of Daegu, Kyungsansi, South Korea. cchoi@cu.ac.kr
Objective:
Hair cell death caused by acute acoustic trauma (AAT) reaches a secondary maximum at 7-10 days after noise exposure due to a second oxidative stress. Therefore, this study tested the effects of a combination of hydroxylated alpha-phenyl-tert-butylnitrone (4-OHPBN), N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) and acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) on AAT when the duration of treatment was extended over the period of 7-10 days after noise exposure as well as when the initial treatment was delayed 24 to 48 h after noise exposure.
Methods:
Thirty chinchilla were exposed to a 105 dB octave-band noise centred at 4 kHz for 6 h and received the following treatments: (1) noise + saline (2-5) 4-OHPBN (20 mg/kg) + NAC (50 mg/kg) + ALCAR (20 mg/kg) intraperitoneally injected beginning 24 or 48 h after noise exposure twice daily for the next 2, 8 or 9 days. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) threshold shifts, outer hair cell (OHC) counts and organ of Corti immunohistochemistry were analyzed.
Results:
The combination administration decreased ABR threshold shifts, inhibited OHC loss and reduced 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) immunostaining. Significant decreases in the threshold shifts and reduction in OHC loss were observed with a shorter delay before starting treatment (24 h) and longer duration (9 days) treatment.
Conclusions:
These results demonstrate that the administration of antioxidant drugs extended up to 10 days after noise exposure can effectively treat AAT in a chinchilla model. This may provide significant and potentially clinically important information about the effective therapeutic window for AAT treatment.
