Hearing impairment in dementia model mice

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K09608
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 56050:Otorhinolaryngology-related
• Research Institution: Ehime University
• Principal Investigator: Okada Masahiro 愛媛大学, 医学部附属病院, 講師 (20512130)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 聴覚障害

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In recent years, the relationship between dementia and hearing impairment has attracted attention. Therefore, we focused on cerebrovascular disorders, which are the cause of dementia, and came up with the idea of research to examine whether hearing loss occurs in mouse models of such diseases.
Using gerbils with a defective posterior communicating artery, they confirmed that blocking blood flow in bilateral common carotid arteries caused cerebral ischemia. Ischemia was performed for 5 and 10 minutes. At 4 weeks after ischemia, hearing (ABR threshold) remained unchanged after both 5 and 10 minutes of ischemia. The amplitude of the ABR I wave tended to decrease slightly, but no significant difference was observed.

Free Research Field

耳科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究結果からは、脳血管障害が聴覚に与える影響は軽微であると考えられたが、更なる長期観察や、他の認知症モデルマウスでの検討が必要と考えられた。これまで、中枢障害が内耳末梢に与える影響を検討した報国は少なく、意義ある研究であったと考える。