Objective: To show the efficacy of intra-peritoneally administered trimetazidine to prevent gentamicin ototoxicity, which is still an important cause of profound deafness among children in different parts of the world.
Methods: Two groups of Swiss albino mice received daily intra-muscular injections of gentamicin for 30 days. One of the groups received trimetazidine intra peritoneally in addition to the gentamicin. Auditory thresholds of the animals were measured by evoked brain stem response at the beginning and the end of the study. Results were compared to the results of the control group, which received intra peritoneal saline injections.
Results: Both groups receiving gentamicin injections had significant auditory threshold shifts, but in the group receiving additional trimetazidine, the threshold shift was not statistically significant when compared to control group. Threshold shift in gentamicin group significantly differed from that of the control group (p=0.0001) and gentamicin+trimetazidine group (p=0.0001), on the other hand there was no statistically significant difference between control group and trimetazidine+gentamicin group (p=0.102).
Conclusion: Gentamicin ototoxicity can be prevented by intra peritoneal trimetazidine injections in animal model. This treatment modality may be a mode of protection from gentamicin ototoxicity in children.