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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Surgical Labyrinthectomy of the Rat to Study the Vestibular System
Published on: May 19, 2018
A new immunohistochemical method to evaluate the development of vestibular compensation after unilateral
Kazunori Matsuda1, Tadashi Kitahara2, Taeko Ito2
1a Department of Otolaryngology , Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School , Tokushima , Japan.
Background:
Unilateral labyrinthectomy (UL) causes the disappearance of ipsilateral medial vestibular nuclear (ipsi-MVe) activity and induces spontaneous nystagmus (SN), which disappears during the initial process of vestibular compensation (VC). Ipsi-MVe-activity restores in the late process of VC.
Objective:
We evaluated the late process of VC after UL in rats and examined the effects of thioperamide (H3 antagonist) on VC.
Materials And Methods:
MK801 (NMDA antagonist)-induced Fos-like immunoreactive (-LIR) neurons in contra-MVe, which had been suppressed by NMDA-mediated cerebellar inhibition in UL rats was used as an index.
Results:
The number of MK801-induced Fos-LIR neurons in contra-MVe gradually decreased to the same level as that of sham-operated rats 14 days after UL. Thioperamide moved the disappearance of the MK801-induced Fos-LIR neurons 2 days earlier. The number of MK801-induced Fos-LIR neurons in thioperamide-treated rats was significantly decreased, compared with that of vehicle rats on days 7 and 12 after UL. But, thioperamide did not influence the decline of SN frequency in UL rats.
Conclusion:
These findings suggested that the number of MK801-induced Fos-LIR neurons in contra-MVe was decreased in concordance with the restoration of ipsi-MVe-activity during the late process of VC after UL and that thioperamide accelerated the late, but not the initial process of VC.
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