Effect of N-acetyl-cysteine treatment on sensorineural hearing loss: a meta-analysis

作     者：Xue Bai Miao Wang Xun Niu Hong Yu Jian-Xin Yue Yu Sun Xue Bai;Miao Wang;Xun Niu;Hong Yu;Jian-Xin Yue;Yu Sun

作者机构：Department of OtorhinolaryngologyUnion HospitalTongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Scienceand TechnologyWuhan430022China 

出 版 物：《World Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery》 (世界耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志（英文）)

年 卷 期：2022年第8卷第3期

页      面：205-212页

学科分类：1003[医学-口腔医学] 1002[医学-临床医学] 100213[医学-耳鼻咽喉科学] 10[医学] 

基　　金：National Nature Science Foundation of China(82071058  81771003  81570923) 

主　　题：Hearing loss Meta-analysis N-acetyl-cysteine 

摘      要：N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) is an efficacious treatment for sensorineural hearing loss in animal models, such as noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), however previous research into the effect of NAC on patients with hearing loss produced contradictory results. In this study, we investigated the effect of NAC treatment on sensorineural hearing loss. PubMed, Web of Science and Embase databases were searched in their entirety using the key words: hearing loss, NAC, N-acetylcysteine, and sensorineural hearing loss. Studies which included assessment of hearing loss with pure-tone threshold (PTA) data were selected. Eligible studies regarding the effects of NAC treatment on patients with hearing loss were collected by two independent reviewers. A total of 1197 individuals were included from seven published studies. Two studies reported data for a sudden idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss (SISNHL) group. Three studies reported data for a NIHL group. Other studies reported data for drug-induced hearing loss. The meta-analysis demonstrated that the overall effect of NAC treatment on sensorineural hearing loss was invalid. However, NAC treatment was linked with improved patient outcomes of hearing tests in cases of sudden hearing loss, but did not prevent hearing loss induced by noise or ototoxicity. However, there is a need for better-designed studies with larger samples to further prove the correlation between the effect of NAC and hearing loss.