Hydrogen-saturated saline protects against intensive narrow-band-noise-induced hearing loss in guinea pigs
Chen L et al. · PLoS One. 2014;9(6):e100774.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized three-group guinea-pig acoustic-trauma experiment
Other neurological conditions
Other forms
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Methods at a glance
Adult guinea pigs exposed to 130 dB narrow-band noise for 1 hour
55 animals: H₂ saline n=20, normal saline n=20 and unexposed control n=15
Four pretreatment injections; auditory follow-up through day 14
Hydrogen-saturated saline 1 mL/100 g intraperitoneally once daily for 3 days and again 1 hour before noise
H₂ dissolved in saline — H₂ only, not Brown’s gas and not inhalation.
>0.6 mM dissolved H₂; prepared for 2 hours at 0.4 MPa.
Not applicable — intraperitoneal saline, not gas inhalation.
No O₂ was co-delivered as part of the intervention.
Normal saline using the same schedule and an unexposed untreated control
Outcomes and reported result
ABR, DPOAE, hair-cell morphology and cochlear LPO, MDA and hydroxyl-radical measures
The article reports smaller threshold shifts, better DPOAE recovery, less hair-cell injury and lower several oxidative measures. The hydroxyl-radical difference was no longer significant at day 7.
Allocation, dose, concentration, schedule, full methods, positive and null results, funding and conflicts checked in the open-access full text.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit. Null findings, outcome type, study design and precision all matter.
Cautions and applicability
Preclinical prevention experiment with no post-exposure treatment arm and multiple hearing and laboratory outcomes.
Intense-noise cochlear injury in guinea pigs, not occupational hearing-loss prevention in humans.
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Certainty is assessed by important outcome across a complete eligible evidence set, not by attaching a final grade to one source.
Sources and record status
PMID: 24945316 · DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100774
Open-access full text is available through PMC and PLOS.
Open-access PMC/PLOS full text and PubMed record; no retraction or expression of concern was shown in the checked records on 7 August 2026.
2026-08-10