Increased noise trauma in guinea pigs through magnesium deficiency.

Mg-deficient guinea pigs developed significantly increased hearing loss during 4 weeks of noise exposure [95 dB(A)] as compared to animals fed a Mg-rich diet. The hearing loss was negatively correlated to the Mg content of the perilymph (r = -0.86). Besides this auditory effect, there was a decrease of intracellular Mg and an increase of collagen in the myocardium, both of which were correlated to the hearing loss and caused by Mg deficiency and noise stress.