Research Paper Volume 8, Issue 4 pp 730—750

N-acetyl-cysteine prevents age-related hearing loss and the progressive loss of inner hair cells in γ-glutamyl transferase 1 deficient mice

class="figure-viewer-img"

Figure 9. NAC supplementation for 6 months prevents hearing loss and IHC loss in dwg/dwg mice, but has little effect on body weight. (A) Mean ABR thresholds at 8, 16 and 32 kHz in untreated +/+ mice (n= 10, 10 and 10 for 3, 6 and 9 months respectively), untreated dwg/dwg mice (n=9, 9 and 2 for 3, 6 and 9 months respectively) and dwg/dwg mice treated with NAC for first 6 months and then untreated until 9 months (n= 15, 14 and 9 for 3, 6 and 9 months respectively). (B) Mean % OHC loss or (C) mean % IHC loss versus % distance from the apex of the cochlea in 6 month old untreated dwg/dwg control mice (n=6), 6 month old dwg/dwg mice (n=6) treated with NAC for 6 months (n=6), 9 month old dwg/dwg control mice (n=5) or 9 month old dwg/dwg mice (n=6) treated with NAC for 6 months and left untreated from 6-9 months. Frequency-place map for mouse cochlea is shown on abscissa [124]. (D) Average weight of untreated +/+ mice (n=6; 3-24 weeks), untreated dwg/dwg mice (n=8, 7, 5 and 5 for 3, 6, 12 and 24 weeks) and dwg/dwg mice treated with NAC for first 6 months (n=8, 7, 5 and 5 for 3, 6, 12 and 24 weeks).