They then transplanted only the ONPs into the ears of gerbils treated with ouabain, a chemical that damages auditory nerves, but not hair cells. This produced two types of primordial sensory cell: otic epithelial progenitors (OEPs) which are like hair cells, and otic neural progenitors (ONPs) which are like neurons. Rivolta has spent the last ten years developing a way to differentiate human embryonic stem cells into auditory neurons and hair cells.įor this study, the team treated stem cells with two types of fibroblast growth factor, FGF3 and FGF10. “More work needs to be done, but now we know it’s possible,” said Rivolta.įor their study, he and his colleagues developed a way to turn human embryonic stem cells into ear cells and then transplanted them into deaf gerbils. “We have the proof of concept that we can use human embryonic stem cells to repair the damaged ear,” Rivolta told Nature News.Īs well as proving that stem cells can repair damaged hearing, the researchers hope the breakthrough will lead to new treatments. Using gerbils and human embryonic stem cells, Rivolta and colleagues describe how they repaired an important part of that link: the auditory nerve. Many of the 275 million people worldwide with moderate-to-profound hearing loss have it because of a faulty link between the inner ear and the brain. Project leader and stem-cell biologist Marcelo Rivolta and colleagues report their work in the 12 September online issue of Nature.
That said, this blog will continue to monitor relevant research and progress.A cure for a common form of deafness known as auditory neuropathy is a step closer, after researchers from the University of Sheffield in the UK used human embryonic stem cells to repair a similar type of hearing loss in gerbils. For this reason, even if FX-322 is proven effective, it will take years to actually be released to the general public. Further data and information would have to be collected before releasing the drug to more people. If you have a similar condition, it is important to consider that if this drug got released and approved for some kinds of hearing loss or tinnitus, it would likely only be available to a very small subset of people. The research so far has shown some improvement in patients with age-related hearing loss who were administered FX-322. These cells remain active and regenerate in some organs and tissues and become dormant in others. Progenitor cells are similar to stem cells in that they are programmed to create specific cell types. Can Progenitor Cells Cure Hearing Loss or Tinnitus?įX-322 is part of a new class of therapeutics designed to activate progenitor cells. Thus, the conclusions of this study show that the delivery of FX-322 to the extended high-frequency region of the cochlea is well-tolerated and may enhance speech recognition performance in multiple subjects with stable chronic hearing loss. Out of the six, four showed clinically significant improvements, meaning that their word recognition scores improved between 18% and 42%, as opposed to no significant changes observed in the placebo group.
The individuals in the study were diagnosed with mild to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss in one or both ears for more than six months, and six real patients were administered a dose of FX-322.
#STEM CELL TREATMENT FOR HEARING LOSS 2021 TRIAL#
Most importantly, the study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in three different ENT clinics in the US. This study was mainly composed of guinea pigs-which are the most commonly tested animal in studies seeking to replicate the human cochlea-but also included some intratympanic dosing with humans. In an article from Otology & Neurotology published in February 2021, the researchers mention that these trials aimed at improving speech intelligibility in subjects with stable sensorineural hearing loss, the most common type of hearing loss, following an intratympanic dosing of FX-322, which means putting the drug through the eardrum and having it affect the inner hearing organ, known as the cochlea. Another 1b trial looked at patients with severe hearing loss of ages 18 to 65. Phase 1b of the trial looked at patients with mild to moderately severe age-related hearing loss of ages 66 to 85. This diagnosis is generally referred to as age-related or sensorineural hearing loss. FX-322: Can It Cure Tinnitus?įX-322 aims to cure hearing loss and tinnitus by naturally repairing or reversing damage caused by degenerative disease. Thompson explains FX-322 and its implications for tinnitus patients.
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