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Updated: Sep 6, 2025
Trans-Tympanic Drug Delivery for the Treatment of Ototoxicity
Published on: March 16, 2018
The protective effect of aspirin-induced temporary threshold shift in an animal model of cisplatin-related
Sharon Tzelnick1,2, Aviram Mizrachi3,4, Neta Barkan5
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Rabin Medical Center, 39 Jabotinsky St, Petah Tikva, Israel. tzelnicksharon@gmail.com.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether induction of temporary threshold shift (TTS) with aspirin prior to cisplatin exposure can prevent or minimize cisplatin detrimental effects on hearing.
Methods:
We randomly divided BALB mice into three groups: (1) cisplatin only, (2) aspirin only, and (3) combined aspirin/cisplatin. Cisplatin was administered as a single intraperitoneal injection of 14 mg/kg. Aspirin was administered for three weeks via intraperitoneal injection of 200 mg/kg sodium salicylate, twice daily. Air conduction thresholds were recorded using Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABR). Cochleae were harvested and cochlear hair cells were counted using a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
Results:
Aspirin-induced TTS have reached an average of 30.05±16.9 dB after 2 weeks. At 60 days, cisplatin-only treated mice experienced an average threshold shifts of 50.7 dB at 4 kHz, 35.16 dB at 8 kHz, 70 dB at 16 kHz, 53.1 dB at 32 kHz. All threshold shifts were significantly worse than for cisplatin/aspirin treated mice with TTS of 11.85 dB at 4 kHz, 3.58 dB at 8 kHz, 16.58 dB at 16 kHz, 20.41 dB at 32 kHz (p < 0.01). Cochlear cell count with SEM has shown reduction in the number of both inner and outer hair cells in the mid-turn in cisplatin treated mice.
Conclusion:
Aspirin induced TTS can protect from cisplatin-induced ototoxicity. This beneficial effect was demonstrated by auditory thresholds as well as SEM. Larger pre-clinical and clinical studies are still needed to confirm these findings.
