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Abstract
Cisplatin is one of the most common agents employed in standard treatments of a variety of malignant tumours. However, its clinical application is limited because of serious and sometimes irreversible side-effects, which include ototoxicity. As a result of cisplatin treatment, several areas of the cochlea are damaged, including outer hair cells in the organ of Corti, spiral ganglion and the stria vascularis. Notwithstanding extensive research, the available treatments to prevent ototoxicity are not very effective. Cisplatin is thought to interfere with the production of endogenous antioxidants that protect the inner ear against reactive oxygen species (ROS). Outer hair cells are the most sensitive to ROS damage, which can lead to apoptosis. Strategies of chemoprevention include the administration of antioxidants to protect hair cells at an early stage in the ototoxic pathways. In this study we evaluated the protective effects of a nutraceutical product compound with antioxidant activity (ACUVAL®, Scharper Healthcare, Italy). Ginkgo biloba is known for having antioxidant properties and for this reason we used cytofluorimetry to test the otoprotective effects of Ginkgo biloba extract (Ginkgoselect® Phytosome®, Indena) against cisplatin induced toxicity in a mouse inner ear cell line (OCk3). The results support the hypothesis that pre-treatment with Ginkgo biloba extract (50–150 µg/ml) is able to protect OCk3 against cisplatin induced toxicity.