Vol.98 No.1 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 98 No. 1 January 2005
New Method for Drug Application into the Inner Ear
-Biodegradable Drug Delivery System-
Juichi Ito
(Kyoto University)
It has been believed that inner ear sensory cells are very weak and recovery of function after damage is very difficult. That is why sensory neural hearing loss is very difficult to treat. Recently, several drugs and chemicals have been reported to protect, or to recover, inner ear function. However, application of those drugs to the inner ear is difficult because of its specific anatomical and physiological system.
A new drug delivery system (DDS) is introduced.
In particular, the application of nerve growth factor via biodegradable hydrogel is thought to be effective for the protection and recovery of inner ear function.
Key words : DDS, regeneration, inner ear hair cell, biodegradation