Conclusions
We found that high blood glucose levels increased peak 1 amplitudes without changing the hearing threshold. Diabetic rats were less resilient in threshold changes and were less vulnerable to peak 1 amplitude and synaptic damage than control animals.
Methods
STZ was injected to trigger diabetes. Rats with DM were exposed to narrow-band noise (105 dB SPL) for 2 h, and hearing function was analyzed 1, 3, 7, and 14 days later. Both the hearing threshold and the peak 1 amplitude of the tone auditory brainstem response were assessed. After the last functional test, animals were sacrificed for histological evaluation.
Results
We found no changes in the baseline hearing threshold; however, the peak 1 amplitude at the low frequency (4 kHz) was significantly higher in both DM groups than in the control groups. The hearing threshold had not fully recovered at 14 days after diabetic rats were exposed to noise. The peak 1 amplitude at the higher frequencies (16 and 32 kHz) was significantly larger in both DM groups than in the control groups. The histological analysis revealed that the long-term DM group had significantly more synapses in the 16 kHz region than the other groups. Conclusions: We found that high blood glucose levels increased peak 1 amplitudes without changing the hearing threshold. Diabetic rats were less resilient in threshold changes and were less vulnerable to peak 1 amplitude and synaptic damage than control animals.