scholarly journals Hearing Loss in Neurological Disorders

Author(s):  
Siyu Li ◽  
Cheng Cheng ◽  
Ling Lu ◽  
Xiaofeng Ma ◽  
Xiaoli Zhang ◽  
...  

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) affects approximately 466 million people worldwide, which is projected to reach 900 million by 2050. Its histological characteristics are lesions in cochlear hair cells, supporting cells, and auditory nerve endings. Neurological disorders cover a wide range of diseases affecting the nervous system, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), etc. Many studies have revealed that neurological disorders manifest with hearing loss, in addition to typical nervous symptoms. The prevalence, manifestations, and neuropathological mechanisms underlying vary among different diseases. In this review, we discuss the relevant literature, from clinical trials to research mice models, to provide an overview of auditory dysfunctions in the most common neurological disorders, particularly those associated with hearing loss, and to explain their underlying pathological and molecular mechanisms.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huizhan Liu ◽  
Kimberlee P. Giffen ◽  
Grati M’Hamed ◽  
Seth W. Morrill ◽  
Yi Li ◽  
...  

AbstractHearing loss affects ~10% of adults worldwide and is irreversible. Most sensorineural hearing loss is caused by progressive loss of mechanosensitive hair cells (HCs) in the cochlea of the inner ear. The molecular mechanisms underlying HC maintenance and loss are largely unknown. Our previous cell-specific transcriptome analysis showed that Limb-Bud-and-Heart (LBH), a transcription co-factor implicated in development, is abundantly expressed in outer hair cells (OHCs). We used Lbh-null mice to identify its role. Surprisingly, Lbh deletion did not affect differentiation and early development of HCs, as nascent HCs in Lbh knockout mice had normal looking stereocilia bundles. Whole-cell recording showed that the stereocilia bundle was mechanosensitive and OHCs exhibited the characteristic electromotility. However, Lbh-null mice displayed progressive hearing loss, with stereocilia bundle degeneration and OHC loss as early as postnatal day 12. Cell-specific RNA-seq and bioinformatic analyses identified Spp1, Six2, Gps2, Ercc6, Snx6 as well as Plscr1, Rarb, Per2, Gmnn and Map3k5 among the top five transcription factors up- or down-regulated in Lbh-null OHCs. Furthermore, this analysis showed significant gene enrichment of biological processes related to transcriptional regulation, cell cycle, DNA damage/repair and autophagy. In addition, Wnt and Notch pathway-related genes were found to be dysregulated in Lbh-deficient OHCs. We speculate that LBH may promote maintenance of HCs and stereocilia bundles by regulating Notch and Wnt signaling activity. Our study implicates, for the first time, loss of LBH function in progressive hearing loss, and demonstrates a critical requirement of LBH in promoting HC survival.


2021 ◽  
Vol 134 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huizhan Liu ◽  
Kimberlee P. Giffen ◽  
M'Hamed Grati ◽  
Seth W. Morrill ◽  
Yi Li ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Hearing loss affects ∼10% of adults worldwide. Most sensorineural hearing loss is caused by the progressive loss of mechanosensitive hair cells (HCs) in the cochlea. The molecular mechanisms underlying HC maintenance and loss remain poorly understood. LBH, a transcription co-factor implicated in development, is abundantly expressed in outer hair cells (OHCs). We used Lbh-null mice to identify its role in HCs. Surprisingly, Lbh deletion did not affect differentiation and the early development of HCs, as nascent HCs in Lbh knockout mice had normal looking stereocilia. The stereocilia bundle was mechanosensitive and OHCs exhibited the characteristic electromotility. However, Lbh-null mice displayed progressive hearing loss, with stereocilia bundle degeneration and OHC loss as early as postnatal day 12. RNA-seq analysis showed significant gene enrichment of biological processes related to transcriptional regulation, cell cycle, DNA damage/repair and autophagy in Lbh-null OHCs. In addition, Wnt and Notch pathway-related genes were found to be dysregulated in Lbh-deficient OHCs. Our study implicates, for the first time, loss of LBH function in progressive hearing loss, and demonstrates a critical requirement of LBH in promoting HC survival in adult mice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Xiaochang Zhao ◽  
Heidi J. Henderson ◽  
Tianying Wang ◽  
Bo Liu ◽  
Yi Li

Hearing loss is a debilitating disease that affects 10% of adults worldwide. Most sensorineural hearing loss is caused by the loss of mechanosensitive hair cells in the cochlea, often due to aging, noise, and ototoxic drugs. The identification of genes that can be targeted to slow aging and reduce the vulnerability of hair cells to insults is critical for the prevention of sensorineural hearing loss. Our previous cell-specific transcriptome analysis of adult cochlear hair cells and supporting cells showed that Clu, encoding a secreted chaperone that is involved in several basic biological events, such as cell death, tumor progression, and neurodegenerative disorders, is expressed in hair cells and supporting cells. We generated Clu-null mice (C57BL/6) to investigate its role in the organ of Corti, the sensory epithelium responsible for hearing in the mammalian cochlea. We showed that the deletion of Clu did not affect the development of hair cells and supporting cells; hair cells and supporting cells appeared normal at 1 month of age. Auditory function tests showed that Clu-null mice had hearing thresholds comparable to those of wild-type littermates before 3 months of age. Interestingly, Clu-null mice displayed less hair cell and hearing loss compared to their wildtype littermates after 3 months. Furthermore, the deletion of Clu is protected against aminoglycoside-induced hair cell loss in both in vivo and in vitro models. Our findings suggested that the inhibition of Clu expression could represent a potential therapeutic strategy for the alleviation of age-related and ototoxic drug-induced hearing loss.


Science ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 240 (4860) ◽  
pp. 1772-1774 ◽  
Author(s):  
JT Corwin ◽  
DA Cotanche

Any loss of cochlear hair cells has been presumed to result in a permanent hearing deficit because the production of these cells normally ceases before birth. However, after acoustic trauma, injured sensory cells in the mature cochlea of the chicken are replaced. New cells appear to be produced by mitosis of supporting cells that survive at the lesion site and do not divide in the absence of trauma. This trauma-induced division of normally postmitotic cells may lead to recovery from profound hearing loss.


Author(s):  
G.J. Spector ◽  
C.D. Carr ◽  
I. Kaufman Arenberg ◽  
R.H. Maisel

All studies on primary neural degeneration in the cochlea have evaluated the end stages of degeneration or the indiscriminate destruction of both sensory cells and cochlear neurons. We have developed a model which selectively simulates the dystrophic changes denoting cochlear neural degeneration while sparing the cochlear hair cells. Such a model can be used to define more precisely the mechanism of presbycusis or the hearing loss in aging man.Twenty-two pigmented guinea pigs (200-250 gm) were perfused by the perilymphatic route as live preparations using fluorocitrate in various concentrations (15-250 ug/cc) and at different incubation times (5-150 minutes). The barium salt of DL fluorocitrate, (C6H4O7F)2Ba3, was reacted with 1.0N sulfuric acid to precipitate the barium as a sulfate. The perfusion medium was prepared, just prior to use, as follows: sodium phosphate buffer 0.2M, pH 7.4 = 9cc; fluorocitrate = 15-200 mg/cc; and sucrose = 0.2M.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Jason Qian ◽  
Anthony J. Ricci

AbstractCurrent clinical interest lies in the relationship between hearing loss and cognitive impairment. Previous work demonstrated that noise exposure, a common cause of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), leads to cognitive impairments in mice. However, in noise-induced models, it is difficult to distinguish the effects of noise trauma from subsequent SNHL on central processes. Here, we use cochlear hair cell ablation to isolate the effects of SNHL. Cochlear hair cells were conditionally and selectively ablated in mature, transgenic mice where the human diphtheria toxin (DT) receptor was expressed behind the hair-cell specific Pou4f3 promoter. Due to higher Pou4f3 expression in cochlear hair cells than vestibular hair cells, administration of a low dose of DT caused profound SNHL without vestibular dysfunction and had no effect on wild-type (WT) littermates. Spatial learning/memory was assayed using an automated radial 8-arm maze (RAM), where mice were trained to find food rewards over a 14-day period. The number of working memory errors (WME) and reference memory errors (RME) per training day were recorded. All animals were injected with DT during P30–60 and underwent the RAM assay during P90–120. SNHL animals committed more WME and RME than WT animals, demonstrating that isolated SNHL affected cognitive function. Duration of SNHL (60 versus 90 days post DT injection) had no effect on RAM performance. However, younger age of acquired SNHL (DT on P30 versus P60) was associated with fewer WME. This describes the previously undocumented effect of isolated SNHL on cognitive processes that do not directly rely on auditory sensory input.


2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 904-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Skrodzka ◽  
Andrzej Wicher ◽  
Roman Gołe¸biewski

The impulse noise produced by personal weapons (guns, rifles, shotguns) during military activity, and while people engage in sport, training and hunting, is a threat to the auditory systems of soldiers, civilians, policemen, hunters, forest officers, sportspeople and bystanders not actively engaged in professional or recreational firing. An overview of noise levels generated by different types of weapon is provided, and potential short-term and long-term consequences for the human auditory system are described. The mean values of LC, peak sound pressure level during the shot, at the shooter's ears, for various types of weapons are approximately 160 dB SPL. These are levels that can cause permanent, irreversible negative effects on hearing (hearing loss, tinnitus, etc.) even as a result of a single shot being fired. One of the largest groups of weapon users in Poland (about 120 thousand) are hunters and field masters. They are not obligated by any regulations to protect their auditory systems from impulse noise. This means that this group of firearm users is at particularly high risk of hearing damage. On the basis of the literature review, it is shown that hearing exposure to high-level impulse noise such as a gunshot can result in such consequences as damage to the middle ear and destruction of the outer/inner hair cells in the cochlea. Especially difficult to diagnose is 'hidden hearing loss', i.e. damage to the synaptic connections between the hair cells of the inner ear and the auditory nerve fibres, which is not reflected in the results of basic audiometric testing and can cause hearing problems many years after impulse noise exposure. The wide range of negative consequences of gunfire noise clearly indicates the need for the hearing of the shooters to be protected.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (22) ◽  
pp. 8649
Author(s):  
Xin Deng ◽  
Zhengqing Hu

Regeneration of auditory hair cells in adult mammals is challenging. It is also difficult to track the sources of regenerated hair cells, especially in vivo. Previous paper found newly generated hair cells in deafened mouse by injecting a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-azacytidine into the inner ear. This paper aims to investigate the cell sources of new hair cells. Transgenic mice with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) expression controlled by the Sox2 gene were used in the study. A combination of kanamycin and furosemide was applied to deafen adult mice, which received 4 mM 5-azacytidine injection into the inner ear three days later. Mice were followed for 3, 5, 7 and 14 days after surgery to track hair cell regeneration. Immunostaining of Myosin VIIa and EGFP signals were used to track the fate of Sox2-expressing supporting cells. The results show that (i) expression of EGFP in the transgenic mice colocalized the supporting cells in the organ of Corti, and (ii) the cell source of regenerated hair cells following 5-azacytidine treatment may be supporting cells during 5–7 days post 5-azacytidine injection. In conclusion, 5-azacytidine may promote the conversion of supporting cells to hair cells in chemically deafened adult mice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (36) ◽  
pp. 22225-22236
Author(s):  
Xiao-Jun Li ◽  
Angelika Doetzlhofer

Mechano-sensory hair cells within the inner ear cochlea are essential for the detection of sound. In mammals, cochlear hair cells are only produced during development and their loss, due to disease or trauma, is a leading cause of deafness. In the immature cochlea, prior to the onset of hearing, hair cell loss stimulates neighboring supporting cells to act as hair cell progenitors and produce new hair cells. However, for reasons unknown, such regenerative capacity (plasticity) is lost once supporting cells undergo maturation. Here, we demonstrate that the RNA binding protein LIN28B plays an important role in the production of hair cells by supporting cells and provide evidence that the developmental drop in supporting cell plasticity in the mammalian cochlea is, at least in part, a product of declining LIN28B-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activity. Employing murine cochlear organoid and explant cultures to model mitotic and nonmitotic mechanisms of hair cell generation, we show that loss of LIN28B function, due to its conditional deletion, or due to overexpression of the antagonistic miRNAlet-7g, suppressed Akt-mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) activity and renders young, immature supporting cells incapable of generating hair cells. Conversely, we found that LIN28B overexpression increased Akt-mTORC1 activity and allowed supporting cells that were undergoing maturation to de-differentiate into progenitor-like cells and to produce hair cells via mitotic and nonmitotic mechanisms. Finally, using the mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin, we demonstrate that LIN28B promotes supporting cell plasticity in an mTORC1-dependent manner.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toru Kamitani ◽  
Hirofumi Sakaguchi ◽  
Atsushi Tamura ◽  
Takenori Miyashita ◽  
Yuji Yamazaki ◽  
...  

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