Researchers Discover Hope for Victims of Hearing Loss In Common Aquarium Fish

Researchers at the University of Washington recently published the results of a study conducted on zebra fish those freshwater staples of any home aquarium. These zebra fish have something called a lateral line running down each side of the fish. You can barely see it but, in zebra fish, these lateral lines act much like the human hearing mechanism.

The study may lead researchers to a solution for hearing loss caused by some ototoxic medications, a fairly common cause of hearing loss.

Screening Tools to Protect Against Hearing Loss

In humans, once hearing loss occurs its unlikely that youll ever hear the same you once previously heard. Why? To hear fully requires millions of healthy, hair like protrusions waving in cochlear fluid deep within the inner ear. Unfortunately, once these hair-like cells are damaged they dont grow back at least in humans.

However, zebra fish can reproduce hearing follicles along their lateral lines. That means if a zebra fish is injured; it has the remarkable ability to regenerate the hair-like cells that run along the lateral line, enabling the fish to pick-up vibrations in the water.

The Potential for Humans

The study, partially funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) offers a degree of hope for those who have experienced hearing loss due to the use of certain ototoxic medications.

The fishs lateral line contains sensory cells that are functionally similar to those found in the inner ear, except these are on the surface of the fishs body, making them more easily accessible, said James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the NIDCD. This means that scientists can very efficiently analyze the sensory structures under different conditions to find out what is likely to cause damage to these structures and, conversely, what can protect them from damage.

In other words, researchers, using genetic techniques, have examined zebra fish DNA searching for clues as to what gives this littler aquarium dweller the ability to regenerate nerves. The research team also examined certain medications known to be ototoxic poisonous to those cochlear hair cells, screening more than 10,000 compounds. After all of this testing, the results showed that two, similar chemicals are able to provide protection of cochlear hair cells from damage caused by neomycin, a common class of medicines.

According to a media release from the NIDCD, the authors [of the study] suggest that their research technique, which combines chemical screening with traditional genetic approaches, offers a fast and efficient way to identify potential drugs and drug targets that may one day provide therapies for people with hearing loss and balance disorders.

Further, tests will be developed to identify those humans most susceptible to hearing loss due to the use of certain medicines.

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