Everolimus Attenuates Salicylate-Induced Tinnitus-Like Behavior and Auditory Cortical Hyperexcitability

Tinnitus is an auditory perception without external stimuli, driven by maladaptive neuroplasticity. This study investigated whether targeting the mTOR pathway with everolimus (EVE) could ameliorate pathological synaptic marker alterations, neurochemical imbalance, and neural hypersynchrony in the primary auditory cortex (A1) using a sodium salicylate (SS)-induced acute tinnitus rat model.

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No actionable change — findings are from an animal model only; everolimus is not approved or ready for clinical use in tinnitus management, and human trials would be needed before any practice change.

Identifying the mTOR pathway as a potential pharmacological target opens a new mechanistic avenue for tinnitus drug development, a field that has long lacked effective pharmacotherapies.

1. 01Everolimus (mTOR inhibitor) reduced salicylate-induced tinnitus-like behavior in an animal model.
2. 02Auditory cortical hyperexcitability — overactive hearing brain cells — was also attenuated by everolimus.
3. 03Study used a salicylate (high-dose aspirin) model, a well-established but indirect model of tinnitus.
4. 04Results are preclinical only; no human safety or efficacy data presented.
5. 05Published in Drug Design, Development and Therapy (doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S632911).

PMID

42780685

DOI

10.2147/DDDT.S632911.

Journal

Drug Design, Development and Therapy

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

4

Population

Animal model (rodents) with salicylate-induced tinnitus-like behavior

Intervention

Everolimus (mTOR pathway inhibitor)

Comparator

Untreated or vehicle-control animals