Can this new medicine prevent millions of hearing losses in the future?

How does the inhibition of CDK2 affect the hearing??

Researchers now found that inhibiting a particular enzyme protects against noise or drug-induced hearing loss. This realization has the potential to save the hearing of millions of people worldwide.

Researchers at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital found that inhibiting an enzyme called cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) protects against noise or medication-induced hearing loss. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Journal of Experimental Medicine".

Hearing loss can be triggered by several factors. These include, for example, a high noise pollution and the intake of medicines. (Picture: Picture-Factory / fotolia.com)

About 360 million people suffer from hearing loss

In their experiments on mice and rats, the experts found that CDK2 inhibitors prevent the death of inner ear cells. This could in future help people to avoid hearing loss. According to the World Health Organization, around 360 million people worldwide, including 32 million children, suffer from hearing loss caused by congenital defects or other factors. These factors include, for example, infectious diseases, the use of certain medicines or exposure to excessive noise. However, there are currently no FDA-approved drugs for the prevention or treatment of hearing loss, the researchers say.

Scientists studied more than 4,000 drugs

The physicians have now tested more than 4,000 drugs for their ability to protect cochlear cells from the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. Cisplatin is used to treat cancer, but it causes irreversible hearing loss in up to 70 percent of patients, study author Dr. Jian Zuo from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Kenpulllon is especially effective

In their study, the researchers identified several compounds that protect cochlear cells from cisplatin. Some of these compounds are already approved for the treatment of other diseases. Three of the ten most potent compounds were inhibitors of an enzyme called CDK2. One of these CDK2 inhibitors, Kenpulllon, was more potent than four other compounds currently in clinical trials for the treatment of hearing loss.

Injection protected laboratory animals from hearing loss

Kenpaullon injection into the middle ear protected both mice and rats from cisplatin-induced hearing loss. In addition, Kenpaullon also protected the hearing of mice from noise up to 100 dB. In view of the fact that 100 dB noise is in the range of noise pollution that affects many people in today's society, Kenpaullon could in the future have a significant clinical application in the treatment of noise-induced hearing loss. Zuo.

Results could improve treatment of deafness

The robust protection afforded by the once-only local administration of Kenpaullon suggests that CDK2 inhibitors may alter the clinical prevention and treatment of cisplatin and noise-induced hearing loss in patients. Zuo. Modifications of treatment regimens, additional optimization of the administration methods by the use of hydrogels, and structural modifications of the compounds via medicinal chemistry could provide even better results with CDK2 inhibitors in the treatment of human hearing loss, the expert adds. (As)