Ameliorative effect of purple bamboo salt-pharmaceutical acupuncture on cisplatin-induced ototoxicity

Our findings demonstrated that purple bamboo salt (PBS)-pharmaceutical acupuncture has an ameliorative effect on cisplatin-induced ototoxicity.

We have previously reported that PBS exhibited anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory actions in vitro and in vivo. Pharmaceutical acupuncture is a traditional oriental therapeutic technique that combines acupuncture with herbal treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of PBS-pharmaceutical acupuncture against cisplatin-induced ototoxicity in the auditory cell line, HEI-OC1, and in vivo.

The ELISA method, a caspase-3 assay, an MTT assay, Western blot analysis, and a luciferase assay were utilized to investigate the effect of PBS in vivo and in vitro.

When it was acupunctured at the Ermen acupoint (triple energizer meridian 21) after an administration of cisplatin, PBS-pharmaceutical acupuncture significantly suppressed interleukin (IL)-6 production and caspase-3 activation induced by cisplatin in the cochlea. In addition, PBS significantly inhibited cisplatin-induced apoptosis and IL-6 production in HEI-OC1 cells. PBS also suppressed cytochrome c release and caspase-3 activation, and it inhibited extracellular signal-related kinase and nuclear factor-κB activation in HEI-OC1 cells.