Prevention of progressive hearing loss in a mouse model of diabetes by oral intake of eicosapentaenoic acid ethyl ester

Abstract

Background

The prevalence of hearing impairment in patients with diabetes was significantly higher, and the development of preventive methods is desirable.

Aims/objectives

This study examined the effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) administration on the prevention of early hearing loss in diabetic mice.

Materials and methods

Tsumura, Suzuki, Obese Diabetes (TSOD) mice were used as a model of diabetes and Tsumura, Suzuki, Non Obesity (TSNO) mice were used as controls. The animals were divided into three groups: the TSNO group and the TSOD (EPA−) group (provided sunflower oil), and the TSOD (EPA+) group (provided EPA). Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were measured and the cochlea was evaluated histologically.

Results

The TSOD (EPA+) group showed a lower tendency to increase thresholds than the TSOD (EPA−) group. The TSOD (EPA+) group had a significantly lower ABR threshold than the TSOD (EPA−) group from 11 to 14 months of age at 4 kHz. Narrowing of the capillary lumens in the stria vascularis and thickening of the vessel wall in the modiolus were observed in the TSOD (EPA−) group.

Conclusions and significance

It was suggested that the suppression of cochlear vascular atherosclerosis by EPA administration in TSOD mice suppressed early age-related hearing loss.

Chinese Abstract

背景：糖尿病患者的听力障碍患病率明显较高, 需要开发其预防方法。

目的：本研究检测了二十碳五烯酸 (EPA) 给药对预防糖尿病小鼠的早期听力损失的效果。

材料和方法：Tsumura, Suzuki, 肥胖性糖尿病(TSOD) 小鼠用作糖尿病模式, Tsumura, Suzuki, 非肥胖性(TSNO) 小鼠用作对照。 小鼠被分为三组：TSNO 组和 TSOD (EPA-) 组（给予葵花籽油）, 以及TSOD (EPA+) 组（给予EPA）。 测量了听觉脑干反应 (ABR), 并且对耳蜗进行了组织学评估。

结果：TSOD (EPA+) 组的阈值升高趋势低于 TSOD(EPA-) 组。 TSOD (EPA+) 组11 至 14 个月时4 kHz上的 ABR 阈值明显低于 TSOD (EPA-)组。在 TSOD (EPA-) 组中观察到血管纹毛细管腔变窄和蜗轴中的血管壁增厚。

结论和意义：研究表明, 在 TSOD 小鼠中通过 EPA 给药抑制耳蜗血管动脉粥样硬化可抑制早期与年龄相关的听力损失。

Keywords:

• Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
• hearing loss
• diabetes

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgments

We thank Ms. Kazuko Muto for assistance with animal husbandry and microscopy. We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.

Ethical statement

The experimental protocols were approved by the Institute for Life Science at Yamaguchi University (Yamaguchi, Japan). This study was conducted in compliance with the Animal Welfare Law and principles for animal management.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a Grant from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (20K09733).