Combining an anti-epileptic drug with an anti-anxiety drug to treat the inner ear disorder Meniere’s disease

Principal Investigator: Dr. Lixin Zhang

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Disease: Meniere’s disease

Research Description: Meniere’s disease (MD) is a chronic inner ear condition, with symptoms including vertigo, dizziness, loss of balance, tinnitus and ear pressure. In addition, most patients will experience some degree of permanent hearing loss. While there are a limited number of disease-modifying treatments, there is no FDA-approved treatment for MD. Previous pilot research by Dr. Zhang has shown that anti-epilepsy medications can help reduce vertigo in MD patients. Anti-anxiety medicines have also been shown to help treat chronic subjective dizziness, which is related to underlying anxiety and common in patients with MD. Anxiety can be a contributing factor to trigger MD vertigo attacks. The proposed project will combine repurposed anti-epilepsy and anti-anxiety oral drugs to determine if the combination can further reduce MD symptoms and improve quality of life, while also collecting data on any potential impact of the drug combination on progressive inner ear damage and hearing loss.

Funding Partners: Becky and Lester Knight

CWR funding role: Primary funder