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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 293/5/E1224    most recent 00279.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Horner, K. C. Articles by Sauze, N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Horner, K. C. Articles by Sauze, N.

Experimental estrogen-induced hyperprolactinemia results in bone-related hearing loss in the guinea pig

¹Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 6153, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique 1147, Université Paul Cézanne; ²Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique FRE 2738, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille; and ³Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité 583, Montpellier, France

Submitted 3 May 2007 ; accepted in final form 10 August 2007

Our group (Horner KC, Guieu R, Magnan J, Chays A, Cazals Y. Neuropsychopharmacology 26: 135–138, 2002) has earlier described hyperprolactinemia in some patients presenting inner ear dysfunction. However, in that study, it was not possible to determine whether hyperprolactinemia was a cause or an effect of the symptoms. To investigate the effect of hyperprolactinemia on inner ear function, we first developed a model of hyperprolactinemia in estrogen-primed Fischer 344 rats and then performed functional studies on pigmented guinea pigs. Hyperprolactinemia induced, after 2 mo, a hearing loss of 30–40 dB across all frequencies, as indicated by the compound action potential audiogram. During the 3rd mo, the hearing loss continued to deteriorate. The threshold shifts were more substantial in males than in females. Observations under a dissection microscope revealed bone dysmorphology of the bulla and the cochlea. Light microscopy observations of cryostat sections confirmed bone-related pathology of the bony cochlear bulla and the cochlear wall and revealed morphopathology of the stria vascularis and spiral ligament. Scanning electron microscopy revealed loss of hair cells and stereocilia damage, in particular in the upper three cochlear turns and the two outermost hair cell rows. The data provide the first evidence of otic capsule and hair cell pathology associated with estrogen-induced prolonged hyperprolactinemia and suggest that conditions such as pregnancy, anti-psychotic drug treatment, aging, and/or stress might lead to similar ear dysfunctions.

hormones; deafness; prolactin; estrogen; osteoprotegerin