Abstract

Bile acids present important roles in the human body and changes in their pool can be used as markers for various liver pathologies. In part, the unconjugated or conjugated, secondary or primary nature of bile acids accounts for their various effect as ligands in addition to their functional effects in modulating inflammatory responses and cellular survivability. With no documented baseline levels of bile acids or their receptors in the inner ear system, some hydrophilic bile acids have been used successfully as a treatment to resolve drug induced cell damage or to ameliorate hearing loss. This review, presents both hydrophilic and hydrophobic human bile acids along with their tissue-specific ligand effects in modulating cellular integrity, bringing in consideration the possible effects and therapeutic applicability of bile acids to the inner ear tissue.