New Delhi, 5 July (IANS). Scientists have developed a new gene therapy, which can prove to be a boon for children and adults struggling with congenital deafness or severe hearing.
A team of researchers from Sweden and China successfully tested the therapy, which improved the hearing capacity of 10 patients. This study has been published in the journal Nature Medicine.
The research included 10 patients between the ages of 1 to 24, who were admitted to five hospitals in China.
These patients were suffering from deafness or severe hearing problem due to mutation in OTOF genes. This mutation causes otopherlin protein deficiency, which plays an important role in sending sound signals from the ear to the brain. In gene therapy, a working version of the OttF gene was delivered to the interiors of the ear using a special synthetic virus (AAV). It was given from a membrane (called round window) on the basis of coclia (a part of the ear) through the same injection.
The effect of this therapy was seen rapidly. Most patients’ hearing ability improved in just one month. The follow-up, which took place six months later, saw remarkable progress in all the patients. On average, the patients were able to hear the sound of 106 decibels, which improved up to 52 decibels than before.
This therapy was the most effective especially among children aged 5 to 8 years. A seven -year -old girl achieved almost the ability to listen to the whole in four months and started talking to her mother everyday. This therapy proved to be effective in adult patients too.
Maoli Duan, an expert at the Carolinska Institute, Sweden, said, “This is a big step in the genetic treatment of deafness. It can change the lives of patients. We will now monitor these patients to find out how long this effect lasts.”
This therapy was found to be safe and well tolerable. This success arouses new hope in the treatment of deafness.
-IANS
MT/AS