Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Dankook University, 119 Dandae-ro, Cheonan, 31116, Republic of Korea.
Beckman Laser Institute Korea, Dankook University, 119 Dandae-ro, Cheonan, 31116, Republic of Korea.
Lasers Med Sci. 2021 Dec;36(9):1941-1947. doi: 10.1007/s10103-021-03304-2. Epub 2021 Apr 6.
Sensorineural hearing loss is an intractable disease. Acoustic overstimulation creates hearing loss; many patients exhibit social and emotional dysfunctions. In a model of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), low-level laser photobiomodulation (PBM) at a near-infrared wavelength significantly improved auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds. In addition, both N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) and acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) attenuated NIHL, reducing the effects of noise trauma in the cochlea and the central auditory system. Here, we combined PBM with antioxidants to explore hearing threshold recovery and morphological hair cell changes after rats were exposed to noise. The average auditory brainstem response thresholds after PBM/NAC combination treatment were reduced from the apex to the basal turn at all of 8, 16, and 32 kHz compared to the noise-only group. The PBM/NAC combination treated group exhibited intact outer hair cells in all turns, and significantly greater hair cell numbers in the middle and basal cochlear turns, than did controls. Thus, PBM/NAC treatment may prevent hearing dysfunction caused by NIHL.
感音神经性听力损失是一种难治性疾病。声过强刺激会导致听力损失；许多患者表现出社交和情绪功能障碍。在噪声诱导听力损失 (NIHL) 模型中，近红外波长的低水平激光光生物调节 (PBM) 显著改善了听脑干反应 (ABR) 阈值。此外，N-乙酰-L-半胱氨酸 (NAC) 和乙酰-L-肉碱 (ALCAR) 均减轻了 NIHL，减轻了耳蜗和中枢听觉系统噪声创伤的影响。在这里，我们将 PBM 与抗氧化剂结合，探讨大鼠暴露于噪声后听力阈值恢复和毛细胞形态变化。与仅噪声组相比，PBM/NAC 联合治疗后，从顶部到基底转的平均听脑干反应阈值在所有 8、16 和 32 kHz 时均降低。与对照组相比，PBM/NAC 治疗组的所有转均表现出完整的外毛细胞，且中、底耳蜗转的毛细胞数量明显增加。因此，PBM/NAC 治疗可能预防由 NIHL 引起的听力功能障碍。
