Objective:
The purpose of this study was to investigate if insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus causes degenerative changes in the inner ear and whether these changes are exacerbated by noise exposure.
Methods:
Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus was induced in male rats using streptozotocin (65 mg/kg of body weight, intravenously). Half the animals were exposed to 95 dB of random noise for 12 hours per day over a period of 6 months. The cochleae were removed, fixed, decalcified, dissected, and the hair cells counted.
Results:
A significant loss of outer hair cells was exhibited in both noise-exposed groups; however, although there was no significant difference between these two groups, the noise-exposed diabetic animals had significant loss in more turns than did the noise-exposed control animals. The diabetic animals were not statistically different from the control animals.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus may increase the hair-cell loss caused by noise overstimulation.(Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1995;121:452-456)