Chang Chia-Hao, Lin Chia-Der, Hsieh Ching-Liang
Graduate Institute of Acupuncture Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Department of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Oct 27;2021:9114676. doi: 10.1155/2021/9114676. eCollection 2021.
Acupuncture has long been used to relieve some inner ear diseases such as deafness and tinnitus. The present study examined the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) in animals. A NIHL rat model was established. Electroacupuncture pretreatment at 2 Hz or posttreatment at the right Zhongzhu (TE3) acupoint was applied for 1 hour. Auditory thresholds were measured using auditory brainstem responses (ABRs), and histopathology of the cochlea was examined. The results indicated that the baseline auditory threshold of ABR was not significantly different between the control (no noise), EA-only (only EA without noise), noise (noise exposure only), pre-EA (pretreating EA then noise), and post-EA (noise exposure then posttreating with EA) groups. Significant auditory threshold shifts were found in the noise, pre-EA, and post-EA groups in the immediate period after noise exposure, whereas auditory recovery was better in the pre-EA and post-EA groups than that in the noise group at the three days, one week (W1), two weeks (W2), three weeks (W3), and four weeks(W4) after noise stimulation. Histopathological examination revealed greater loss of the density of spiral ganglion neurons in the noise group than in the control group at W1 and W2. Although significant loss of spiral ganglion loss happened in pre-EA and post-EA groups, such loss was less than the loss of the noise group, especially W1. These results indicate that either pretreatment or posttreatment with EA may facilitate auditory recovery after NIHL. The detailed mechanism through which EA alleviates NIHL requires further study.
长期以来，针灸一直被用于缓解一些内耳疾病，如耳聋和耳鸣。本研究探讨了电针（EA）对动物噪声性听力损失（NIHL）的影响。建立了NIHL大鼠模型。在右侧中渚穴（TE3）以2Hz频率进行电针预处理或后处理，持续1小时。使用听觉脑干反应（ABR）测量听觉阈值，并检查耳蜗的组织病理学。结果表明，对照组（无噪声）、单纯电针组（仅电针无噪声）、噪声组（仅噪声暴露）、电针预处理组（先电针预处理再噪声暴露）和电针后处理组（噪声暴露后电针后处理）的ABR基线听觉阈值无显著差异。噪声暴露后即刻，噪声组、电针预处理组和电针后处理组的听觉阈值有显著变化，而在噪声刺激后三天、一周（W1）、两周（W2）、三周（W3）和四周（W4）时，电针预处理组和电针后处理组的听觉恢复优于噪声组。组织病理学检查显示，在W1和W2时，噪声组螺旋神经节神经元密度的损失比对照组更大。虽然电针预处理组和电针后处理组也出现了螺旋神经节的显著损失，但这种损失小于噪声组，尤其是在W1时。这些结果表明，电针预处理或后处理均可能促进NIHL后的听觉恢复。电针减轻NIHL的具体机制需要进一步研究。
