title: Are systemic voriconazole and caspofungin ototoxic? An experimental study with rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether systemic administration of voriconazole and caspofungin causes ototoxicity.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted on 32 healthy male Wistar albino rats. The baseline auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds of all animals were obtained under general anesthesia. Then, the rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (groups I-IV), each group consisting of 8 rats. Rats in group I were injected intraperitoneally with voriconazole 10 mg/kg/day for 7 days, and the rats in the group II were injected intraperitoneally with caspofungin 5 mg/kg/day for 7 days. Group III received 120 mg/kg/day gentamicin for 7 days. Group IV received saline for 7 days. The animals were then observed for 7 days, and on 14th day of the trial, posttreatment ABRs of both ears were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We did not find any significant differences between pretreatment and posttreatment median ABR thresholds in the voriconazole, caspofungin, or saline groups. In the gentamicin group, there was a statistically significant difference between pretreatment and posttreatment ABR thresholds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Caspofungin and voriconazole did not change ABR thresholds in speech frequencies after a 7-day-period of their administration. We believe that further animal studies must be performed after administration of these agents for a longer time period, and these findings must be consolidated with histopathological investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.forename: Filiz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aydoğan
authors.forename: Eren
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taştan
authors.forename: Ayşe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iriz
authors.forename: Gökhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Karaca
authors.forename: Ilknur
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Haberal Can