The impact of carbon monoxide inhalation on developing noise-induced hearing loss in guinea pigs

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is one of the most common types of fatal poisonings worldwide. Acute exposure to high levels of CO as well as chronic exposure to low levels of CO and excessive noise can lead to high frequency hearing loss. In this study, twelve guinea pigs were randomly divided into two groups: (1) exposed to noise and (2) exposed to noise plus CO. Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were measured prior to the experiment and immediately, 5, 10 and 15 days post exposures. There was a significant difference between the ABR thresholds before and immediately after exposure to noise at frequencies of 4, 8, and 16 kHz and the most threshold shift was observed at 8 kHz. There was also a significant difference between the ABR thresholds before and immediately after exposure to noise and CO at frequencies of 2, 4, 8, and 16 kHz which demonstrated a temporary hearing loss after exposure to noise and CO and the major impact of CO on developing noise induced hearing loss occurred at 8 kHz. No significant difference was observed between the ABR thresholds recorded before conducting the experiments and the ones obtained 5, 10 and 15 days after simultaneous exposure to noise and CO at none of frequencies. Simultaneous exposure to noise and CO contributes to transient hearing loss in guinea pigs with the most evident temporary shift at 8 kHz. The methods were accepted in the Ethics Committee of Iran University of Medical Science (registration No. CTRI/2016/01/017170) on January 18, 2016. © 2020 Medical Gas Research