Protective Benefits of Fluvastatin on Noise Induced Hearing Loss in Guinea Pigs and Mice

Hearing loss affects millions of people worldwide, causing significant morbidity. Despite advances in hearing aids and cochlear implantation, there remains a lack of novel pharmacologic interventions to alter the course of hearing loss. The Whitlon and Richter labs have studied pharmacologic interventions for hearing protection in a guinea pig model of Noise Induced Hearing Loss. They discovered that the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, fluvastatin, delivered to the left ear at the time of noise exposure protects the right ear from noise induced hearing loss. Our aim in this current study is 1) to further elucidate how fluvastatin has a protective benefit on hearing loss in the guinea pig model by altering the time of delivery of the drug before and after noise exposure; 2) to determine whether the benefit is specific to guinea pig or is also observed in an additional animal model, the mouse; and 3) investigate whether the drug needs direct implantation into the cochlea or whether an alternative approach – either systemic or through the CSF will be effective.