A clinically derived guinea pig dosing model of cisplatin ototoxicity.

The guinea pig is a commonly-used animal model in hearing research, as their audible frequency range is similar to that of humans, and they possess comparatively large cochleae among rodents. Numerous studies have investigated the ototoxic effects of cisplatin in guinea pigs, but these have been mostly limited to single high-dose bolus injections of cisplatin. This method of drug administration is not consistent with human treatment schedules, and therefore lacks translational value to clinical applications.

Cool OtOprotective Ear Lumen (COOL) Therapy for Cisplatin-induced Hearing Loss.

Hypothesis: Localized cooling of the external ear has a protective effect on the susceptibility to cisplatin-induced hearing loss.

Background: We previously demonstrated significant protection from cisplatin-induced hearing loss using cool water ear canal irrigation. However, the study was limited to a single bolus injection of cisplatin and an acute time period.

Repeated temporary threshold shift and changes in cochlear and neural function.

A robust temporary threshold shift (TTS) can create significant primary damage to the auditory synapse, termed cochlear synaptopathy (CS). The common model applied to examination of this pathology is a single noise exposure or extended duration exposures at relatively high noise dosages. It is unclear if a single noise exposure that does not produce physiological changes consistent with CS (such as suppressed suprathreshold responses) can create evidence consistent with the pathology induced by repeated exposures.