Ototoxicity induced by kanamycin in iron-deficient young rats

Using auditory electrophysiological,histopathological,enzymehistochemical and scanning electron microscopic techniques,we observed thechanges of function and structure of cochlea in iron-deficient growing rats receiv-ing kanamycin intramuscularly.The results showed that at an equal dose ofkanamycin,hearing loss and hair cell damage were more serious,and incidence ofhearing loss was much higher in iron-deficient rats than in normal rats.Theinhibition of succinate dehydrogenase activity of cochlea induced by interaction ofkanamycin and iron deficiency was more obvious than that by either one of them.Iron deficiency can increase the sensitivity of cochlea to kanamycin.The resultsindicated that iron deficiency may be one of the reasons for high incidence ofototoxic deafness in children,and it should be cautious when using such drugs inchildren with iron-deficient anemia.