With the aging of the population, age-related hearing loss is an increasingly common condition. It could have genetic origins. A team has identified 10 new genetic markers, which could pave the way for screening for the disease, its prevention and better care to avoid patient isolation.
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[EN VIDÉO] Interview: Could genetics reverse aging? Slowing down aging, or even reversing it, is what genetics could offer in the years to come. But where is the current research on this subject? Futura-Sciences interviewed Vera Gorbunova, researcher in biology, during her speech at TEDxCannes, in order to find out more.
From the age of 60, almost a third of people suffer from hearing loss. From the age of 80, it is more than half. Men are usually affected earlier than women. Hearing loss in seniors often rhymes with loss ofautonomy and isolation. It is also a risk factor for the occurrence of dementia senile. This is why the prevention and the treatment of this disease are public health issues. Researchers wanted to analyze the origins genetic age-related hearing loss. Their results were published in the journal American Journal of Human Genetics.
Research on the stria vascularis
Most current research focuses on the restoration of hair cells that line theinner ear. The hair cells are capped with eyelashes, There are two types. The outer hair cells contract to amplify the sound signal and transmit it to the inner hair cells. The inner hair cells transform the waves received into nerve impulses. Their degeneration is partly responsible for the age-related hearing loss.
Another structure of the ear could also play an essential role: the vascular stria. She is inside the cochlea. The authors wanted to highlight evidence of the link between stria vascular degeneration and age-related hearing loss at the genetic level.
10 new loci identified
Data from 723,266 people were compiled into a meta-analysis. At the genetic level, 48 loci contributing to age-related hearing loss have been identified, including 10 new ones. A locus is a fixed position of a embarrassed on a chromosome, it is a genetic marker. The authors observed that many genes associated with age-related hearing loss were expressed in the stria vascularis, confirming the hypothesis that this area is essential in hearing.
According to the authors, genetics could be responsible for 36 to 70% of age-related hearing loss. However, this pathology is extremely heterogeneous and covers very different situations. Factors related to the environment and the lifestyle of the person are also involved.
These results open a new path in the field of age-related hearing loss, both in terms of prevention and management. The 10 newly identified genes could be the target of tests for screeningdrugs, even gene therapy.
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