Experimental autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss

Alterations in host immunity result in a number of disorders affecting multiple organ systems, including the inner ear. The mechanism of injury is poorly understood; as such, this study investigated whether an experimental model of autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss (ASNHL) could be established. Animals were immunized with heterologous inner ear antigen and then evaluated for evidence of evolving inner ear autoimmunity. These animals uniformly developed antibodies to inner ear antigen in their sera and perilymph and 12 of 38 ears showed significant increases in action potential thresholds. Histopathological lesions consisted of loss of cochlear neurons, perivascular plasma cell infiltrates, edema, and extravasation of erythrocytes. These findings are characteristic of autoimmune injury and suggest the establishment of an experimental model of ASNHL in which to further investigate this clinical disorder.