Hydrogen protects vestibular hair cells from free radicals

Conclusion Hydrogen gas effectively protected against the morphological and functional vestibular hair cell damage by reactive oxygen species (ROS) Objective ROS are generally produced by oxidative stress In the inner ear, ROS levels increase as a result of noise trauma and ototoxic drugs and induce damage It is thus important to control ROS levels in the inner ear The protective effects of hydrogen gas in cochlear hair cells have been reported previously Methods This study examined the effects of hydrogen gas on mouse vestibular hair cell damage by ROS using antimycin A Results In the group (star)exposed to hydrogen gas, vestibular hair cells were morphologically well preserved and their mechano-electrical transduction activities were relatively well maintained when compared with controls Hydroxyphenyl fluorescein (HPF) fluorescence in vestibular tissue was also reduced by hydrogen gas