It has been increasingly recognized that
tinnitus is likely to be generated by complex network changes.
Acoustic trauma that causes
tinnitus induces significant changes in multiple metabolic pathways in the brain. However, it is not clear whether those metabolic changes in the brain could also be reflected in blood samples and whether metabolic changes could discriminate
acoustic trauma,
hyperacusis and
tinnitus. We analyzed brain and serum metabolic changes in rats following
acoustic trauma or a
sham procedure using metabolomics. Hearing levels were recorded before and after
acoustic trauma and behavioral measures to quantify
tinnitus and
hyperacusis were conducted at 4 weeks following
acoustic trauma. Tissues from 11 different brain regions and serum samples were collected at about 3 months following
acoustic trauma. Among the
acoustic trauma animals, eight exhibited
hyperacusis-like behavior and three exhibited
tinnitus-like behavior. Using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and multivariate statistical analysis, significant metabolic changes were found in
acoustic trauma animals in both the brain and serum samples with a number of metabolic pathways significantly perturbated. Furthermore, metabolic changes in the serum were able to differentiate
sham from
acoustic trauma animals, as well as
sham from
hyperacusis animals, with high accuracy. Our results suggest that serum metabolic profiling in combination with machine learning analysis may be a promising approach for identifying
biomarkers for
acoustic trauma,
hyperacusis and potentially,
tinnitus.