Effects of Astragaloside IV on Hearing, Inflammatory Factors, and Intestinal Flora in Mice Exposed to Noise

作者：Li, Junyi; Yang, Jian; Xia, Yun; Wang, Junyi^*; Xia, Yuan

来源：Metabolites, 2024, 14(2): 122.

DOI：10.3390/metabo14020122

• astragaloside IV
• noise
• hearing loss
• intestinal flora
• auditory brainstem response
• inflammatory factors

Long-term exposure to noise can cause irreversible hearing loss. Considering that there is no effective drug treatment, it is important to seek preventive treatment for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Although astragaloside IV (AS-IV) protects against NIHL by reducing serum inflammatory factors, there is scarce information on the regulation of inflammatory factors by AS-IV to prevent NIHL. We investigated the hearing thresholds and relationship between the serum levels of inflammatory cytokines and intestinal microbiota of c57bl/6j mice exposed to noise (103 dB SPL 4 h<middle dot>d(-1)) for 7 days, treated with or without AS-IV. Our results revealed a lower hearing threshold and lower serum levels of TNF-alpha, TNF-gamma, IL-6, IL-1 beta, and IFN-gamma in the mice treated with AS-IV. Additionally, AS-IV increased the abundance levels of the phylum Firmicutes, class Bacillus, order Lactobacillus, and family Lactobacillus (p < 0.05), and decreased those of the phylum Bacteroidetes and order Bacteroidales (p < 0.05). Lactobacillus and Bacilli negatively correlated with TNF-alpha, TNF-gamma, and IL-1 beta; Erysipelotrichaceae negatively correlated with INF-gamma; and Clostridiales positively correlated with IL-1 beta. In conclusion, AS-IV reduces the elevation of hearing thresholds in mice, preventing hearing loss in mice exposed to noise, and under the intervention of AS-IV, changes in the levels of inflammatory factors correlate with intestinal flora. We suggest that AS-IV improves intestinal flora and reduces inflammation levels in c57bl/6j mice exposed to noise.

• 单位
  广东药学院; y