Assessment of hearing in 80 inbred strains of mice by ABR threshold analyses

• Published in: Hearing research Vol. 130; no. 1; pp. 94 - 107
• Main Authors: Zheng, Qing Yin, Johnson, Kenneth R., Erway, Lawrence C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-04-1999; Elsevier
• Subjects: Alleles; Animals; Auditory Pathways - physiology; Auditory Threshold - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Stem - physiology; Deafness model; Ear, auditive nerve, cochleovestibular tract, facial nerve: diseases, semeiology; Electrophysiology; Gene; Hearing - physiology; Hearing Disorders - diagnosis; Hearing loss; Hearing Tests; Inbred strain; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains - genetics; Mice, Inbred Strains - physiology; Mouse; Non tumoral diseases; Non-syndromic; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Reference Values; Mouse; Gene; Inbred strain; Deafness model; Non-syndromic; Hearing loss; Brain stem; Rodentia; Auditory disorder; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Auditory evoked potential; ENT disease; Genetics; Inbred; Inheritance(genetics); Mutation
• ISSN: 0378-5955; 1878-5891
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-5955(99)00003-9

The common occurrence of hearing loss in both humans and mice, and the anatomical and functional similarities of their inner ears, attest to the potential of mice being used as models to study inherited hearing loss. A large-scale, auditory screening project is being undertaken at The Jackson Laboratory (TJL) to identify mice with inherited hearing disorders. To assess hearing sensitivity, at least five mice from each inbred strain had auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds determined. Thus far, we have screened 80 inbred strains of mice; 60 of them exhibited homogeneous ABR threshold values not significantly different from those of the control strain CBA/CaJ. This large database establishes a reliable reference for normal hearing mouse strains. The following 16 inbred strains exhibited significantly elevated ABR thresholds before the age of 3 months: 129/J, 129/ReJ, 129/SvJ, A/J, ALR/LtJ, ALS/LtJ, BUB/BnJ, C57BLKS/J, C57BR/cdJ, C57L/J, DBA/2J, I/LnJ, MA/MyJ, NOD/LtJ, NOR/LtJ, and SKH2/J. These hearing impaired strains may serve as models for some forms of human non-syndromic hearing loss and aid in the identification of the underlying genes.