Effect of corticosteroid on salicylate-induced morphological changes of isolated cochlear outer hair cells.

Our previous studies showed that pretreatment with corticosteroids, which inhibits release of arachidonic acid (precursor of prostaglandins and leukotrienes), partially prevented salicylate-induced hearing loss in vivo. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of pretreatment with corticosteroid (dexamethasone sodium phosphate) on isolated cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) exposed to salicylate in vitro. Isolated OHCs from the chinchilla cochlea were exposed to salicylate with or without pretreatment with dexamethasone.