by According to new research, a single stab of a blurred gene therapy could reverse hearing loss in humans within weeks.
The most modern therapy improved the hearing in children and adults with innate deafness or severe hearing impairment, with a 7-year-old recovering almost full of hearing in a clinical study, said researcher from the Swedish Karolinska institution.
The clinical study described in the magazine Natural medicineshowed that a healthy copy of the OTOF -GEN in the inner ear in the inner ear improved the hearing of all 10 participants.
The small study included people who had a genetic form of deafness or severe hearing impairment caused by mutations in a gene called OTOF.
These mutations cause a deficiency of the Otoferlin protein, which plays a key role in the transmission of sound signals from the ear to the brain.
While therapy seemed to work best in children, this could also benefit adults.
In the study, a synthetic, harmless version of the adeno-associated virus was used to provide the inner ear a really functional Otof gene via a single injection.
The effects of the therapy were shown by the majority of the patients whose hearing quickly recovered after only one month.
After six months, the researchers found a significant improvement in hearing improvement in all participants, whereby their average volume of perceptible sound improved from 106 decibels to 52.
Those between the ages of five and eight reacted best to treatment, as the study found.
A seven -year -old girl quickly recovered all of her hearing, and she was able to have talks with her mother four months later.
“This is the first time that the method was tested by teenagers and adults,” said Maoli Duan, author of the Karolinska study.
“With many participants, listening has been significantly improved, which can affect their quality of life prof. We will now follow these patients to see how permanent the effect is.”
The researchers also found that the treatment was safe and well tolerated. The participants did not report any serious side effects during the follow -up period of 6 to 12 months.
The most common reaction was a reduction in the number of neutrophils of the immune system, a kind of white blood cell.
“Otof is just the beginning,” said Dr. Duan and added that researchers worked on other genes on other genes on other genes that are behind deafness such as GJB2 and TMC1.
“These are more complicated to treat, but animal studies have achieved promising results so far. We are confident that patients with different types of genetic deafness can be treated one day.”
