Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 29, 2025

The Mouse Round-window Approach for Ototoxic Agent Delivery: A Rapid and Reliable Technique for Inducing Cochlear Cell Degeneration
12:21

The Mouse Round-window Approach for Ototoxic Agent Delivery: A Rapid and Reliable Technique for Inducing Cochlear Cell Degeneration

Published on: November 26, 2015

17.9K

Mechanisms Involved in Ototoxicity

Peter S Steyger1

  • 1Oregon Hearing Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.

Seminars in Hearing
|July 8, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Ototoxicity, or drug-induced hearing loss, is a growing concern. Understanding how ototoxic drugs cross the blood-labyrinth barrier is key to developing protective therapies.

Area of Science:

  • Ototoxicity research
  • Pharmacology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Evidence-based ototoxicity research began in the 1940s with aminoglycosides.
  • Subsequent decades identified loop diuretics, antineoplastic drugs, and metal chelators as ototoxic agents.
  • Ototoxic drugs often exhibit nephrotoxicity due to shared organ functions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the emerging frontier of ototoxin trafficking across the blood-labyrinth barrier.
  • To understand the mechanisms by which systemic ototoxins enter the inner ear.
  • To inform the development of novel pharmacotherapeutic strategies for preventing drug-induced hearing loss.

Main Methods:

  • Review of ototoxicity literature.
  • Analysis of drug mechanisms and physiological barriers.
  • Identification of common cytotoxic pathways, such as reactive oxygen species generation.

Main Results:

  • Reactive oxygen species generation is a common mechanism in ototoxicity.
  • The blood-labyrinth barrier presents a significant challenge to inner ear drug entry.
  • Mechanisms of ototoxin transport across this barrier remain largely unknown.

Conclusions:

  • Elucidating ototoxin transport across the blood-labyrinth barrier is critical.
  • Targeting this barrier offers a new therapeutic avenue for preventing ototoxicity.
  • Further research is needed to develop targeted pharmacotherapies to protect hearing.
Keywords:
Blood-labyrinth barrieraminoglycosidecisplatinototoxic drugssolvent toxicity

More Related Videos

Trans-Tympanic Drug Delivery for the Treatment of Ototoxicity09:52

Trans-Tympanic Drug Delivery for the Treatment of Ototoxicity

Published on: March 16, 2018

9.7K
Dissection of Adult Mouse Utricle and Adenovirus-mediated Supporting-cell Infection11:13

Dissection of Adult Mouse Utricle and Adenovirus-mediated Supporting-cell Infection

Published on: March 28, 2012

24.1K

Related Concept Videos

Auditory Pathway01:15

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking...
6.1K
The Cochlea01:13

The Cochlea

The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.
48.0K
Hair Cells01:22

Hair Cells

Hair cells are the sensory receptors of the auditory system—they transduce mechanical sound waves into electrical energy that the nervous system can understand. Hair cells are located in the organ of Corti within the cochlea of the inner ear, between the basilar and tectorial membranes. The actual sensory receptors are called inner hair cells. The outer hair cells serve other functions, such as sound amplification in the cochlea, and are not discussed in detail here.
42.6K
Mechanically-gated Ion Channels01:12

Mechanically-gated Ion Channels

Mechanically-gated ion channels are proteins found in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell membranes that open in response to mechanical stress. Tension, compression, swelling, and shear stress can alter the conformation of the protein, opening a transmembrane channel that allows the passage of ions for signal transmission. In eukaryotes, mechanically-gated channels are distributed in several regions like the neurons, lungs, skin, bladder, and heart, where they play critical roles in numerous...
7.1K
Toxic Reactions: Overview01:26

Toxic Reactions: Overview

When toxic substances penetrate the human body, they disseminate to various tissues, undergoing metabolic changes. This process yields reactive metabolites that may covalently bind with specific target molecules, resulting in toxicity.
Toxicity falls into two primary categories: local and systemic.
Local toxicity appears at the exposure site, such as protein denaturation caused by caustic substances.
In contrast, systemic toxicity requires the toxic agent's absorption and distribution,...
1.3K
Anatomy of the Ear01:16

Anatomy of the Ear

Auditory sensation, commonly called hearing, involves the transformation of sonic waves into neural impulses facilitated by the structures of the auditory organ. The prominent, flesh-like structure on the side of the head, called the auricle, directs sound waves towards the auditory canal. The auricle is often mislabeled as the pinna, a term more aligned with mobile structures like a feline's external ear. The auditory canal penetrates the cranium via the external auditory meatus of the...
9.5K