Abstract
Ototoxicity is the damage to inner ear sensory epithelia due to exposure to certain medications and chemicals. This occurs when toxins enter the tightly controlled inner ear environment inducing hair cell death, resulting in hearing loss. Recent studies have explored hydrogel-based bio-nanotechnologies and new drug delivery formulations to prevent drug-induced hearing loss, with much attention given to administration of antioxidant drugs. Bile acids have been recognized as promising excipients due to their biocompatibility and unique physiochemical properties. As yet bile acids have not been explored in improving drug delivery to the inner ear despite improving drug stability and delivery in other systems and demonstrating positive biological effects in their own right.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors acknowledge Australian Postgraduate Award and Curtin Research Scholarship. H Al-Salami has been and is currently receiving funding from Beijing Nat-Med Biotechnology Co. Ltd. The work is partially supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 research project and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 872370, Curtin Faculty ORS-WAHAI Consortium and the Australian National Health and Medical Research (APP9000597). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.