The research is exciting, says lead author Sha, because hearing loss caused by these antibiotics is so prevalent. The incidence of aminoglycoside-induced hearing loss averages 8 percent but the numbers may be higher in developing countries, she notes, where aminoglycosides are frequently the only affordable antibiotics and are sold over the counter. No therapy currently exists to prevent ototoxicity.
This research began in 1999 with a collaboration with Chinese hospitals. Working with Schacht, Sha associate laboratory director of U-M's Kresge Hearing Research Institute's Biochemistry Laboratory got in touch with her colleagues in China. The two traveled to China and presented their ideas, and ultimately began a partnership with the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an, China. The third author on the paper, Jian-Hua Qiu, M.D., represents the colleagues of the Fourth Military Medical University.
After receiving approvals from institutional review boards at U-M and the Fourth Military Medical University, the otolaryngology department in Xi'an conducted the prospective, randomized, double-blind trial at Xijing Hospital and Airforce Chengdu Hospital from 1999 to 2003. All of the participants were ages 18 to 65, and were inpatients who were scheduled for treatment with gentamicin. Hearing damage, or ototoxicity, was defined as a shift from a person's baseline hearing by at least 15 decibels at both the 6 and 8 kHz frequencies, which are the first affected by the drugs. The effectiveness of the gentamicin as an antibiotic did not lessen when it was paired with aspirin.
Schacht notes that even though gentamicin has been linked widely with hearing loss, and its use has been declining in industrial countries, it is not practical to think
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Contact: Katie Gazella or Sally Pobojewski
kgazella@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
26-Apr-2006