A new two-drug combination therapy for noise-induced hearing loss

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Noise is the most common occupational and environmental hazard, thus it is not surprising that noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the second most common form of sensorineural hearing deficit, second only to age-related hearing loss (presbycusis). Although therapeutics that target the free radical pathway have shown promise for reducing NIHL, there are no FDA-approved medications for NIHL. Development of an efficacious treatment has been hampered by the complex array ofcellular and molecular pathways involved in NIHL. Recently, we have shown that NIHL can be effectively prevented by a two-drug combination therapy targeting multiple signaling pathways. The immediate goal of this work is to extend the observed protectionby this two-drug combination to two more different animal species and determine whether a synergistic effect to prevent and treat NIHL can be obtained with the same two-drug combination or drugs from the same families. The long-term goal of this progr