Ginkgo biloba in the treatment of tinnitus: An updated literature review

Abstract

Introduction: Tinnitus is one of the common diseases of the ear that is associated with numerous physical and mental disorders. One of the known mechanisms in the tinnitus area with unknown reason is oxidative events. Based on the prevalence and economic costs and physical-psychological side effects caused by tinnitus and the importance of finding a suitable solution for its prevention and treatment, the need for further studies becomes more obvious in this context. This review article aimed to review studies on the effectiveness of Ginkgo biloba as a medicinal plant on patients with tinnitus. Evidence Acquisitions: Google Scholar, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), PubMed, LISTA (EBSCO) and Web of Science have been searched. Results: There are many studies on the therapeutic effect of Ginkgo biloba on patients with tinnitus. Most findings are in contrast with each other so that some of studies reported that Ginkgo biloba is effective in the treatment of tinnitus and other studies referred to it as ineffective herbal medicine. Generally, according to the previous studies and the present study, it can mention that the Ginkgo biloba may somewhat improve tinnitus. Conclusion: Since tinnitus is multifactorial, it is recommended to evaluate patients individually based on the cause of tinnitus, treatment formulas, and different doses of Ginkgo biloba at the more extensive level in future studies.

Pharmacotherapy of tinnitus

“…Garlic's effect on tinnitus is attributable to improve blood flow of cochlea as a result of its antiplaque formation ability and stabilizing blood pressure. 16,17…”

Auditory Neural Plasticity in Tinnitus Mechanisms and Management

“…Looking through studies on Ginkgo biloba, we found contrary treatment effects on tinnitus, and a Cochrane review concluded that there was limited evidence to support the effectiveness for patients whose primary complaint was tinnitus [ 160 ]. This might be due to a lack of standard usage, a lack of optimal doses, and a lack of standard methodological measurements of efficacy [ 149 , 161 – 164 ]. The efficacy of tinnitus is likely to be the mixture of multiple ingredients, which might not be conducive to guiding the treatment and avoiding adverse effects.…”

Post Marketing Surveillance Study to evaluate the Efficacy and Safety for the Combination of Alpha Lipoic Acid, Gingko Biloba, Vitamin C, Zinc, Magnesium, Vitamin B6, Methylcobalamin, Vitamin E and Chromium Picolinate in the Patients of Tinnitus

“…Ginkgo biloba contains monoamine oxygenase inhibitors including ginkgolide and bilobalide as well as myricetin and quercetin flavonoids. Ginkgo biloba has antioxidant and protective effects on nerve cells in the brain, auditory cortex, and subcortical field because of which it can be used for the treatment of tinnitus [19] . Magnesium has been shown to minimise noise-induced vasoconstriction, caused by the formation of free radicals.…”