PEDIATRICS Vol. 95 No. 4 April 1995, pp. 579-583
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Contribution of Asphyxia to the Induction of Hearing Impairment in Jaundiced Gunn Rats

Sarah Silver BSc1, Jaime Kapitulnik PhD2, and Haim Sohmer PhD1

1 Department of Physiology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School Jerusalem, Israel
2 Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

Objectives. This study was designed to determine whether asphyxia contributes to the induction of hearing impairment during neonatal jaundice.

Methods. Asphyxia was induced in jaundiced and nonjaundiced Gunn rats on postnatal days 1 (low bilirubin levels) and 10 (elevated bilirubin levels). Auditory nerve-brainstem evoked response thresholds were assessed in 21- and 28-day and 3-month-old rats.

Results. Asphyxia by itself or jaundice by itself did not lead to any type of hearing impairment. However, the combination of both high plasma bilirubin levels and asphyxia in 10-day-old rats but not in 1-day-old rats was accompanied by a progressive hearing loss in these rats.

Conclusions. The contributory effect of asphyxia on neonatal jaundice may have important clinical relevance if asphyxia, for example, respiratory distress, accompanies neonatal jaundice.

Submitted on May 4, 1994
Accepted on November 14, 1994