ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the effect of exogenous glucocorticoid exposure in the prenatal period on hearing and to evaluate the effectiveness of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), an antioxidant, on the prevention of the inner ear injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dexamethasone was given to half of twelve Sprague-Dawley pregnant rats and the distilled water was given to the remaining half. The real subjects were obtained by born of the offsprings. When the all subjects were two months of age, they were exposed to 110 dB noise during four hours as a stressor effect. These subjects were divided into three groups. Group 1: subjects to whose mothers were given distilled water; Group 2: subjects to whose mothers were given dexamethasone; Group 3: subjects to whose mothers were given dexamethasone and CAPE. RESULTS: While there was no statistical significance in hearing thresholds which exposed and not exposed to exogenous dexamethasone before noise exposure (p>0.05) between the groups, the elevation of hearing thresholds of subjects which exposed to exogenous dexamethasone was statistically significant after noise exposure (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Prenatally exposure to exogenous glucocorticoids may cause the inner ear susceptible to the effect of noise, and CAPE is effective to prevent the possible damage.
