Protective effect of carnosine on excitable structures of the auditory apparatus in albino rats with acute acoustic trauma.

We studied the effect of natural antioxidant carnosine on Wistar rats with experimental acoustic trauma of the auditory apparatus. Repeated intraperitoneal injection of carnosine in a dose of 200 mg/kg 12 and 0.5 h before modeling of acute acoustic trauma decreased the severity of degenerative and atrophic changes in the nuclei of hair cells in the cochleae. Carnosine compensated the deficiency of tissue antioxidant systems and suppressed generation of lipid peroxidation products in tissues of the membranous cochlea and auditory cortex of the temporal lobes. Carnosine holds much promise as a nonspecific otoprotector.