Hearing research
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The ototoxicity of carboplatin, a second generation anti-cancer agent, was examined using the chinchilla as an animal model. In animals treated with a clinical therapeutic dose (400 mg/m2), the dominant degenerative change is to inner hair cells (IHCs). This is in sharp contrast to most other ototoxic agents, which damage primarily the outer hair cells (OHCs). ⋯ In contrast, CM amplitudes and 'thresholds' remained close to normal in most cases, reflecting the preservation of OHCs in the basal turn. These results indicate a high degree of independence between the inner and outer hair cell systems in the cochlear transduction mechanism. We suggest that this species-specific preparation with selective IHC loss will provide a valuable tool for studying, separately, the role of OHCs in both afferent and efferent cochlear function.