Effect of glycerol on inner ear fluid electrolytes and osmolalities in guinea pigs

Endolymph of the scala media (SM) and perilymph of the scala vestibuli (SV) and scala tympani (ST) were collected from the basal turn of anesthetized guinea pigs before and after intravenous administration of glycerol (3 g/kg). Sound-evoked responses were recorded during the test periods. Blood, CSF, and perilymph of the ST were also collected continuously after the injection. The osmolalities and chloride concentrations of the collected samples were determined. In another experiment, the continuous changes of potassium and chloride concentrations in endolymph and perilymph of the ST before and after the injection were measured by ion-selective electrodes. The osmolalities in CSF and perilymph lagged behind the increase in serum osmolality. The osmolalities in endolymph and perilymph increased gradually after the injection, reached maximum values after 90 minutes, and then decreased. The changes in chloride and potassium concentrations in endolymph and perilymph had similar tendencies. But the increases in chloride concentrations in perilymph of the SV and ST were much less than that in endolymph. We propose that most of the osmolality increase in perilymph is due to glycerol or other osmotically active substances and that the osmolality increase in endolymph is due to water shift.