Screening antioxidants for the protection of cochlear sensory cells

Sensory cell damage is a major cause of hearing loss: Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is a common sensory deficit characterized by tissue damage and/or cell death in the cochlea. Moderate and severe SNHL causes deficits in communication, associated with increased isolation from human relationships, and negativly impacts employability. Many etiologies have been associated with SNHL: Noise overexposure, certain drugs, inner or middle ear infection or immune-induced inflammation being common. However, the most prevalent form of SNHL is presbycusis or age-related hearing loss, often aggravated by other factors including a history of noise exposure, diabetes or high blood pressure (Wong and Ryan, 2015). Though systemic steroids are used in the treatment of sudden SNHL, other drugs to prevent or cure hearing loss have not yet been developed. Cochlear sensory cells, known as hair cells (HCs) and neurons have very limited repair capacity. Moreover since these cells do not regenerate, making any loss permanent, prevention of cell damage is critical to protecting hearing.