Abstract:Abstract:Objective To study the pathological changes of auditory nerve and alteration of auditory brainstem response (ABR) in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and the correlation between them. Methods Sixty Wistar mice were randomly divided into experimental group, control group and normal group. The animal model of EAE was established by subcutaneous injetion of heterologous myelin basic protein (MBP) of peripheral nerve and complete Freunds adjuvant. Antigens were replaced by complete Freunds adjuvant and normal saline in the normal group and control group respectively. ABR was examined before and weekly after immunization for seven weeks’ duration. Two rats of every group were killed weekly to observe the pathological changes of auditory nerve under electronic microscope. Results Demyelination was observed in the auditory nerve of experimental group at the first week after immunization, reached the peak at the third week, and got recovery at the 6th week with selfrelief. Except prolonged latency of wave Ⅲ in experimental group, the differences of ABR thresholds among the three groups were statistically insignificant. Conclusion Auditory nerve demyelination in the model mice with EAE can be eased up with time and ABR will not change synchronously.
