Silicone-based AC102-loaded cochlear implant coatings protect residual hearing in an animal model of cochlear implantation.

Cochlear implant users with residual hearing benefit synergistically from combined electrical stimulation via the cochlear implant and preserved residual hearing after surgery. However, direct mechanical trauma and subsequent inflammation may deteriorate hearing function. AC102, a novel otoprotective pyridoindole with anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidative properties significantly improved hearing recovery following cochlear implantation when administered intratympanically prior to surgery.

A preoperative dose of the pyridoindole AC102 improves the recovery of residual hearing in a gerbil animal model of cochlear implantation.

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is the most common sensory deficit worldwide. Due to the heterogeneity of causes for SNHL, effective treatment options remain scarce, creating an unmet need for novel drugs in the field of otology. Cochlear implantation (CI) currently is the only established method to restore hearing function in profound SNHL and deaf patients.

A single dose of AC102 restores hearing in a guinea pig model of noise-induced hearing loss to almost prenoise levels.

Although sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is a serious condition, there are currently no approved drugs for its treatment. Nevertheless, there is a growing understanding that the cochlear pathologies that underlie SSNHL include apoptotic death of sensory outer hair cells (OHCs) as well as loss of ribbon synapses connecting sensory inner hair cells (IHCs) and neurites of the auditory nerve, designated synaptopathy. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a common subtype of SSNHL and is widely used to model hearing loss preclinically.

Intratympanic Substance Distribution After Injection of Liquid and Thermosensitive Drug Carriers: An Endoscopic Study.

Objective: In the treatment of inner ear conditions, intratympanic injection emerges as an important drug delivery method. Novel compounds designed for intratympanic injection are routinely loaded in viscous drug carriers. To date, it is unclear if they can freely distribute in the middle ear.