Tinnitus Treatment with Oxytocin: A Pilot Study

AZEVEDO, ANDREIA APARECIDA; FIGUEIREDO, RICARDO RODRIGUES; ELGOYHEN, ANA BELEN; LANGGUTH, BERTHOLD; PENIDO, NORMA DE OLIVEIRA; SCHLEE, WINFRIED

Frontiers in Neurology

Frontiers

Año: 2017 vol. 8

NTRODUCTION:Tinnitus is the perception of sound in the absence of an external stimulus. It is a frequent condition for which there is as yet no pharmacological treatment approved. Auditory and non-auditory pathways are involved in tinnitus´ pathophysiology. Oxytocin is a neurohormone and eventual neurotransmitter that plays a complex role in social cognition and behavior.OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the potential of oxytocin as a tinnitus treatment.STUDY DESIGN:Two studies were performed. Study 1 was a long-term open pilot study, while study 2 investigated short-term effects with a double-blinded placebo-controlled cross-over study.SETTING:Ambulatory ENT care.SUBJECTS AND METHOD:In study 1, 15 patients were investigated over a 10-week period in an open pilot study. In study 2, 16 patients were included in a placebo-controlled crossover trial to investigate short-term effects following a single dose.RESULTS:For the long-term study (study 1), analysis of variance revealed a significant decrease in tinnitus sensation, both for the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and Clinical Global Impression (CGI). Also, the short-term effects in study 2 revealed a significant reduction of tinnitus because of the oxytocin nasal spray as measured with the Visual Analog Scale and the CGI Scale.CONCLUSION:These preliminary studies demonstrated that oxytocin may represent a helpful tool for treating tinnitus and further larger controlled studies are warranted.