Noise-induced hearing loss: a study on the pharmacological protection in the Sprague Dawley rat with N-acetyl-cysteine.

Noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common causes of deafness and, at present, there is no treatment for the recovery of the normal hearing threshold after prolonged exposure to loud acoustic stimuli and the generation of acoustic trauma. Prolonged exposure to noise can cause oxidative stress in the cochlea which results in the loss (via apoptotic pathways) of the outer hair cells of the organ of Corti. It has been demonstrated that some antioxidant molecules, for example L-N-acetyl-cysteine, can prevent oxidative stress in the inner ear. Aim of the study was to evaluate whether L-N-acetyl-cysteine, given at various dosages, can preserve the fine structures of the cochlea from the insult of continuous noise. A series of 18 Sprague Dawley male albino rats were exposed to continuous noise (8 kHz octave band noise, 105 dB SPL, 4 hours), and cochlear functionality was evaluated by recordings of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and distortion products otoacoustic emissions). The group which showed the best protection was that which received a total dosage of 1500 mg/kg of L-N-acetyl-cysteine. These data suggest that while L-Nacetyl-cysteine can partially protect the cochlea from continuous noise, the protection effect is strongly dose-dependent: lower dosages do not fully protect the cochlea and higher dosages can damage the rat systemically (e.g. pulmonary toxicity).