Potassium Ion Channel Openers, Maxipost and Retigabine, Protect Against Peripheral Salicylate Ototoxicity in Rats.

Potassium Ion Channel Openers, Maxipost and Retigabine, Protect Against Peripheral Salicylate Ototoxicity in Rats. Hear Res. 2015 Apr 30; Authors: Sheppard AM, Chen GD, Salvi R Abstract Sodium Salicylate (SS) reliably induces a sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus when administered in high doses. Recent animal modeled studies indicate that potassium channel openers such as Maxipost and Retigabine (RTG) can block SS- or noise-induced tinnitus respectively; however, the origins and mechanisms are poorly understood. Since SS blocks the same potassium channels that Maxipost and RTG open, we postulated that these drugs might influence peripheral auditory function. To test this hypothesis Maxipost or RTG were administered alone or in combination with SS in rats. When administered alone, Maxipost and RTG had no effect on distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) or compound action potentials (CAPs). However when Maxipost or RTG were administered with SS, Maxipost prevented the SS-reduced CAP amplitudes at high frequencies (> 20 kHz) and RTG prevented SS-reduced CAP amplitudes at low frequencies (≤8 kHz). These results suggest that Maxipost and RTG can protect against peripheral damage and therefore reduce the incidence of tinnitus. PMID: 25937133 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Hearing Research - Category: Audiology Authors: Tags: Hear Res Source Type: research