Prevention of autoimmune hearing loss in MRL/lpr mice by bone marrow transplantation

We examined the effects of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) on immune-mediated inner ear diseases in MRL/Mp-Ipr/Ipr (MRL/Ipr) mice, which manifest not only lupus nephritis but also sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) at the age of 20 weeks. These mice were treated with cyclophosphamide (CY) and irradiation (5 Gy x 2), followed by the transplantation of bones plus bone marrow cells from allogeneic normal C57BL/6 mice at the age of 12 weeks. Hematolymphoid cells were reconstituted with donor-derived cells 3 months after BMT. Thus-treated MRL/1pr mice showed neither lupus nephritis nor SNHL even 24 weeks after BMT. No pathological findings were observed in either glomeruli or cochleae. These findings suggest that BMT can be used to prevent the development of autoimmune SNHL in MRL/1pr mice.