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Tinnitus is a condition that means that you hear noises in your ear that are not generated by a common source, such as ringing tones, buzzing sounds and beats. At best, it can be unpleasant, but at worst it can be debilitating.
However, a group of American scientists think they could benefit from a revolutionary treatment for the disease, which can cause stress, sleep disturbances, anxiety and hearing loss, and often linked to Meniere's disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and depression. This also no cure.
It is not always clear how tinnitus develops, but in their study – which was published in thejournal PLOS Biology – The scientists suggest that this could be caused by a molecule called TNF-A (tumor alpha necrosis factor), which disrupts communication between neurons.
Scientists were successful in curbing the disease in mice (who had developed tinnitus after being exposed to a loud noise for two hours) by blocking a protein that fueled the brain's inflammation.
The character Bradley Walsh in A Star is Born had tinnitus. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
The team said the findings suggest that neuroinflammation could be a problem. therapeutic target for the treatment of tinnitus and other hearing problems.
Co-author of the study Professor Shaowen Bao said, "The genetic blockade of TNF-A or the pharmacological blocking of its expression prevented neuroinflammation and improved the behavior badociated with tinnitus in mice with noise-induced hearing loss ".
The team's badysis revealed inflammation in one area of the sound processing system. controlled brain ring in the ears of the affected mice.
Bao, neuroscientist at the University of Arizona in the United States, continued, "Hearing loss is a widespread disease that affects about 500 million people and is a major risk factor for tinnitus – the perception of noise or ringing in the ears. "
Recent research suggests that hearing loss causes inflammation – that is, the immune system's response to injury and infection – in the auditory pathway.
Credit: PA
But the link between this and hearing loss-related conditions such as tinnitus is still poorly understood.
Dr. Bao and colleagues examined the inflammation that affects the nervous system in the auditory cortex of the brain as a result of noise-induced hearing loss, as well as its role in tinnitus in models of rodents.
"The results indicate that noise-induced hearing loss is badociated with high levels of molecules called proinflammatory cytokines and the activation of non-neuronal cells called microglia – two defining features of neuroinflammatory responses – in the primary auditory cortex. "
Bao added, "These findings implicate neuroinflammation as a therapeutic target for the treatment of tinnitus and other hearing loss-related disorders."
However, Bao also pointed out that, although the treatment was effective in animals, side effects must be thoroughly investigated prior to any human testing.
Image credit: PA
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