Gentamicin Applied to the Oval Window Suppresses Vestibular Function in Guinea Pigs

Intratympanic gentamicin therapy is widely used clinically to treat the debilitating symptoms of Ménière’s disease. Cochleotoxicity is an undesirable potential side effect of the treatment and the risk of hearing loss increases proportionately with gentamicin concentration in the cochlea. It has rec...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: King, E., Shepherd, R., Brown, Daniel, Fallon, J.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73810
_version_ 1848763104257638400
author King, E.
Shepherd, R.
Brown, Daniel
Fallon, J.
author_facet King, E.
Shepherd, R.
Brown, Daniel
Fallon, J.
author_sort King, E.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Intratympanic gentamicin therapy is widely used clinically to treat the debilitating symptoms of Ménière’s disease. Cochleotoxicity is an undesirable potential side effect of the treatment and the risk of hearing loss increases proportionately with gentamicin concentration in the cochlea. It has recently been shown that gentamicin is readily absorbed through the oval window in guinea pigs. The present study uses quantitative functional measures of vestibular and cochlea function to investigate the efficacy of treating the vestibule by applying a small volume of gentamicin onto the stapes footplate in guinea pigs. Vestibular and cochlea function were assessed by recording short latency vestibular evoked potentials in response to linear head acceleration and changes in hearing threshold, respectively, 1 and 2 weeks following treatment. Histopathology was analyzed in the crista ampullaris of the posterior semi-circular canal and utricular macula in the vestibule, and in the basal and second turns of the cochlea. In animals receiving gentamicin on the stapes footplate, vestibular responses were significantly suppressed by 72.7 % 2 weeks after treatment with no significant loss of hearing. This suggests that the vestibule can be treated directly by applying gentamicin onto the stapes footplate.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:58:09Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-73810
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:58:09Z
publishDate 2017
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-738102019-07-12T08:06:15Z Gentamicin Applied to the Oval Window Suppresses Vestibular Function in Guinea Pigs King, E. Shepherd, R. Brown, Daniel Fallon, J. Intratympanic gentamicin therapy is widely used clinically to treat the debilitating symptoms of Ménière’s disease. Cochleotoxicity is an undesirable potential side effect of the treatment and the risk of hearing loss increases proportionately with gentamicin concentration in the cochlea. It has recently been shown that gentamicin is readily absorbed through the oval window in guinea pigs. The present study uses quantitative functional measures of vestibular and cochlea function to investigate the efficacy of treating the vestibule by applying a small volume of gentamicin onto the stapes footplate in guinea pigs. Vestibular and cochlea function were assessed by recording short latency vestibular evoked potentials in response to linear head acceleration and changes in hearing threshold, respectively, 1 and 2 weeks following treatment. Histopathology was analyzed in the crista ampullaris of the posterior semi-circular canal and utricular macula in the vestibule, and in the basal and second turns of the cochlea. In animals receiving gentamicin on the stapes footplate, vestibular responses were significantly suppressed by 72.7 % 2 weeks after treatment with no significant loss of hearing. This suggests that the vestibule can be treated directly by applying gentamicin onto the stapes footplate. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73810 10.1007/s10162-016-0609-1 restricted
spellingShingle King, E.
Shepherd, R.
Brown, Daniel
Fallon, J.
Gentamicin Applied to the Oval Window Suppresses Vestibular Function in Guinea Pigs
title Gentamicin Applied to the Oval Window Suppresses Vestibular Function in Guinea Pigs
title_full Gentamicin Applied to the Oval Window Suppresses Vestibular Function in Guinea Pigs
title_fullStr Gentamicin Applied to the Oval Window Suppresses Vestibular Function in Guinea Pigs
title_full_unstemmed Gentamicin Applied to the Oval Window Suppresses Vestibular Function in Guinea Pigs
title_short Gentamicin Applied to the Oval Window Suppresses Vestibular Function in Guinea Pigs
title_sort gentamicin applied to the oval window suppresses vestibular function in guinea pigs
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73810