Effect of sleep deprivation on hearing levels in rats

To our knowledge, the influence of sleep deprivation on hearing levels has yet to be assessed in animals. Therefore, we evaluated whether auditory function was affected by sleep deprivation in rats. Male Wistar rats (aged 9 weeks, weighing 300–400 g) were used for the study and were randomly assigned to a control (n = 15) or sleep deprivation group (n = 12). Hearing levels were evaluated at baseline and 9 days after sleep deprivation using auditory evoked brainstem responses (ABRs) and distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) measurements. Blood was collected for the measurement of interleukin-1β and corticosterone levels. The ABR thresholds (at 8, 16, and 32 kHz) at 9 days were significantly elevated in the sleep deprivation group compared to the control group (p