The Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Against Streptomycin Ototoxicity

Aim: Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) is an important adjuvant therapy and being increasingly used in the treatment of various disorders because of having an important antioxidant activity. This experimental study was designed to determine the possible protective effect of HBO therapy on streptomycin-induced ototoxicity. Material and Method: Twenty-eight adult Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups: Streptomycin (n=7), saline (n=7), HBO (n=7), and streptomycin plus HBO (n=7). The HBO administered rats were placed into a large pressure chamber and received 100% oxygene at 2.5 atmosphere absolute for 60 minutes per day in a period of seven days. Rats were tested with DPOAE (Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions) in the beginning and the end of study. The animals in all groups were sacrificed under general anesthesia on the seventh day. Biopsy specimens from inner ear were stored for histopathologic examination with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) under light microscopy. Results: Outer hair cells shown by light microscopic images were mostly preserved in control and HBO group. DPOAE measurements revealed no significant differences between the beginning and the end (p>0.05). Streptomycin and streptomycin plus HBO treated rats showed loss of hair cells and auditory functions significantly (p<0.05). Between the groups of streptomycin and streptomycin plus HBO; there was no statistically significance according to the analysis of the histopathological scores and DPgram results (p>0.05). Discussion: HBO has probably no harmful effect on hair cells. But it seems to be not beneficial in a streptomycin-induced cochlear damage rat model