Traditional Oriental Medicine for Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Can ethnopharmacology contribute to potential drug discovery?

ConclusionsCurrent therapeutic strategies have proven that the goal of the traditional oriental medicine principle of increasing bodily fluids is a relevant approach for reducing the development of hearing loss by improving microcirculation in the blood-labyrinth barrier and increasing cochlear blood flow. The potential benefits of TOM agents expand to a multi-target approach on different auditory structures of the inner ear related to increased cochlear blood flow, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and neuroprotective activities. TOM is proposed as an important source of drug discovery and well-controlled, double-blind clinical trials are required to determine the efficacy and possible side effects of the main active compounds in the herbal species traditionally prescribed for hearing loss.Graphical abstract
Source: Journal of Ethnopharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research