miRNAs sounding better
Hearing loss is a field that has been totally refractory to drug treatment. Now, British and Spanish researchers have converged on microRNA-96, or elements downstream of it, as a potential therapeutic target for treating age-related hearing loss.1,2 The strategy could hold promise in a space that has little to offer patients beyond hearing aids, although effective and timely delivery of a therapy will be challenging.
Age-related hearing loss (presbyacusis) affects about 25-40% of individuals over 65 years of age.3 The condition involves damage to or loss of auditory hair cells in the inner ear and is usually irreversible. The only commercial treatments are hearing aids and cochlear implants. On the therapeutic front, researchers have focused on ways to induce formation or regeneration of new hair cells, including gene therapies, cell therapies and small molecules.3,4...