Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 April 2014
To determine the effect of experimentally induced hypoxia, in the first 10 days of life, on physiological hearing in a Sprague–Dawley rat model.
A prospective, controlled animal study was carried out using 22 male rat pups. The rats in the hypoxic group (n = 12) were reared in hypoxia for the first 10 days of life, and subsequently reared in normoxia, while those in the control group (n = 10) were reared in normoxia for the duration of the experiment. Hearing was assessed using auditory brainstem response testing at approximately 72 days of age.
The hypoxia group had higher auditory brainstem response thresholds for all frequencies tested (more pronounced at 16 kHz), compared with controls. Wave I–V inter-peak latencies were more prolonged in the hypoxic rats, while both groups had similar wave I latencies.
Chronic postnatal hypoxia induced permanent hearing loss in this Sprague–Dawley rat model. Prolonged wave I–V inter-peak latencies suggested functional abnormality in the central auditory pathway.