NRX-101 New Depression Drug Might Help Tinnitus (in Theory)?

Firstly, please don't get too excited. This is just something I came across but it would be a good idea to keep an eye on this drug (maybe if only for depression because it's not an SSRI). It's a combo of Latuda + NMDA Receptor Antagonist (ketamine). Also, it is currently not FDA approved. The nice part is that it should not cause akathisia which is common with Latuda (trust me, you don't want to get that).

NRX-101
http://www.neurorxpharma.com/combination-treatment.html

Here's are some of the positives that caught my attention in regards to tinnitus:

1. Latuda has been shown to anecdotally decrease tinnitus (I usually like to cite information like this but I can't remember where I read the info, so please don't take my word for it without researching). If you do find any info on this, please post it here.
2. NMDA Receptor Antagonist
3. Oral Ketamine for long term use

 

Ringing in the ear or be altered by heavy psych drugs. Sucks to be in this position.

 

I hear you, not too many other options out there for us medically.

 

Interesting find. There are 2 main reasons I never took an antipsychotic such as Latuda though. One of the reasons is that most (if not all) can cause tardive dyskinesia. This is because of their actions on the D2 receptor. The chart below shows a strong affinity for the D2 receptor (the lower the number, the higher the affinity). Also, most that I know about can cause hyperglycemia and lead to diabetes. That is what happened to my friend's brother.

Latuda:
Receptor Affinity (Ki (nM))
α1 receptor 48
α2A receptor 1.6
α2C receptor 10.8
D1 receptor 262
D2 receptor 0.9
D3 receptor 15.7
D4.4 receptor 30
5-HT1A receptor 6.8
5-HT2A receptor 2.0
5-HT2C receptor 415
5-HT3 receptor >1000
5-HT4 receptor >1000
5-HT7 receptor 0.5

Ketamine on the other hand would be interesting. I remember a guy on here - "whale" - who said Ketamine helped him to deal with the emotional aspects of tinnitus. The thread is here:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...tional-aspects-of-tinnitus.17268/#post-201482

I also saw this interesting video on Ketamine for depression recently if anyone is interested in watching:

The Experimental Ketamine Cure for Depression

 

The guy talks about synaptic plasticity in the brain and that this would repair damaged parts of the brain. As far as my limited understanding of tinnitus and the function of the brain herein is, is this not exactly what we are looking at?

Has anyone on the board ever had any of these injections done for tinnitus?

 

A brilliant post, thanks @Cal18

"Based on these strategies, the company believes commercialization may be possible as early as 2018". That is a ridiculously quick pipeline!

Source: http://www.neurorxpharma.com/development-strategy.html

I could not agree with you more; dopamine antagonist should not be used without proper consideration. That said we have not seen the final product, so the affinity to those receptors may be less in this final drug. However, like many other medications that have assisted Tinnitus off label, a very high dosage is required for any therapeutic effect.

Ketamine is subject to a number of studies for Depression - one of which was being conducted in Australia last year. Its quite interesting as it targets glutamate in the brain, as opposed to serotonin or noradrenaline with other antidepressants. Unfortunately it's only delivered by IV currently, so this drug looks very interesting plus would potentially avoid the biggest side effect of antidepressions - loss of libido.

 

Even if this drug proved effective for tinnitus, I wonder if it could be taken long term. I read that it's currently undergoing phase 2B/3 clinical trials and is taken for a maximum period of six weeks. Is this something that could be taken indefinitely?

 

It is not even being tested for tinnitus, I don't know why it's even be posted here.

 

I don't know why you bothered to post here.

It was posted here because like many new drugs, they may offer assistance to people with tinnitus off label. Last I checked, this was a discussion board.

 

There is nothing to suggest it may be beneficial for tinnitus, only for depression.

 

You're right to be sceptical, of course. But because the drug deals with some of the elements often discussed on TT, as potential points of interest in tinnitus treatments, people's curiosity gets piqued.

Here on TT, we live in hope. And one never knows when a serendipitous discovery could suddenly present itself, in the process of looking for something altogether different. We all know it's a long shot.

A marvellous example is a report today of two Australian guys, who have discovered a drug that's been around for decades, that could successfully treat osteoarthritis, a miserable scourge that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Who knew an old drug could be repurposed for humans and possibly help avoid costly and painful hip and knee replacements? Even stranger, a drug previously used only on horses and greyhound dogs!

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/nati...l-cure-for-osteoarthritis-discovered.amp.html

 

Did a quick research on ketamine and could see now why it was posted! Let's hope for a serendipitous discovery!

 

Care to share? I don't know how this would help us.

 

https://www.laboratoryequipment.com...’-ketamine-may-treat-depression-ptsd-tinnitus

That's all I came across

 

Now that it seems likely they they'll be able to measure tinnitus, and given our increasing understanding of which bits of the brain are being affected,I don't think it too un reasonable to hope for more effective drug treatments in the next 5 years. Tinnitus is a puzzle, a hard one, but understandable and solvable none the less.

 

Link to where it seems likely they'll be able to measure tinnitus?

 

http://www.belmarrahealth.com/ringing-ears-occurs-due-changes-brain-study/

 

This thread got a little more action than I thought it would. It's true, definitely a long shot for tinnitus but since there are only a handful or options in the works (and if they do help, will not be ready for years down the road) we have to also look at repurposing. I say with confidence that there HAS to be a drug combination or dosage of a particular drug that's already out there that may work for the majority but that's a needle in a haystack scenario.

 

There isn't a combination of drugs for Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Alzheimer's or Dementia...

Why would there be a combination for tinnitus then?

 

We've already seen people helped by different medications such as combinations of antipsychotics, pain medications, neurotransmitter altering drugs, anticonvulsants, etc.