Hydrogen Saline Protects Hearing from Loud Noise Damage in Study
- Authors
- Lu Yan, Yu Ning, Li Xing–qi, Sun Xue–jun, Wang Qiu–ju, Yang Shi–ming, Zhai Suo–qiang
- Journal
- Journal of Otology
- Year
- 2011
- DOI
- 10.1016/S1672-2930(11)50006-6
- Study Type
- Guinea Pig
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
- Body System
- Auditory
TL;DR
Injecting guinea pigs with saturated hydrogen saline before exposing them to loud noise helped protect their hearing.
Key Finding
Guinea pigs treated with hydrogen saline before noise exposure had better hearing thresholds and more than twice as many surviving inner ear hair cells compared to untreated animals.
Summary
Researchers tested whether hydrogen-enriched saline could protect guinea pigs' hearing from loud noise damage. They exposed 15 guinea pigs to very loud impulse noise and gave one group hydrogen saline injections before exposure, while other groups received either normal saline or no treatment. The hydrogen-treated animals showed better hearing function and significantly more surviving hair cells in the inner ear compared to untreated animals.
Practical Takeaway
This animal study suggests hydrogen saline may help protect hearing from acoustic trauma, but it is a small guinea pig study and does not yet indicate whether this would work in humans or through other delivery methods like drinking hydrogen water. Much more research, including human trials, would be needed before any health recommendations could be made.
Abstract
Objective: To study effects of saturated hydrogen saline in preventing noise–induced hearing loss. Methods: Fifteen guinea pigs were randomly divided into 3 groups (5 each), group one was for control, group two was treated with normal saline and group three was treated with saturated hydrogen saline, which was given intraperitoneally at 1 hour before noise exposure at 1 ml/100 g. One hundred rounds of impulse noise (157 dB SPL peak) were delivered as noise exposure. Immediately after exposure to impulse noise and on Days 1, 2, 4 and 8 following exposure, auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds were measured. Outer hair cell morphological changes and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity were examined on Day 8 post–exposure. Results: Immediately after noise exposure, ABR thresholds in saturated hydrogen saline treated animals were lower than the non–treated animals (P < 0.05). Microscopy showed little SDH staining, cell swelling and irregular cell arrangement in the non–treated or normal saline treated animals. Whereas in the saturated hydrogen saline treated animals, there was deep SDH staining with significantly reduced cell loss and more regular cellular arrangement compared to the other two groups. The surviving cells counts was 45.17 ± 12.15 for non–treated animals, 44.50 ± 10.02 for normal saline treated animals and,116.50±2.38 for animals treated with saturated hydrogen saline. While the count was similar between non–treated and normal saline treated animals, it was significantly higher in saturated hydrogen saline treated animals (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Intraperitoneal injection of saturated hydrogen saline appears to protect the cochlea against noise–induced damage.