Inner Ear Hair Cell Regeneration — Maybe We Can Know More

I genuinely believe that hair cells are not the cause for T and H but more so the ribbon synapses and the auditory nerve.I read an interesting paper lately that completely confirms this and makes a very interesting read.The good news is that researchers have had very good results in regenerating these key parts in the ear so who knows the cure or at least a very viable treatment might be closer than you think,I'll post the link here when I find it lol :)
 
Its nice to see progress but guys seriously, there wont be any hearing loss cure in 20years ahead.
But there can be much improvement in CI technology, for example NanoCI project finalized successfully, they recently updated final update: http://www.nanoci.org/news/index.php
Also they regrowed auditory nerve which is i think significant achievment.

Hi, thank you for the nanoci link. It's indeed nice to see that the proof of concept seems to work and they are able
to regrow the nerve. I guess, it's also take some time until the device is on marked for human uses.
It's make sense, that researchers work on this way too if regenerative strategies won't work.
 
I think that Japan is good for academic research but beyond that don't expect much to happen.
Very risk adverse , high testing costs and low level of startup and capital rising , and for drugs the regulatory environment is very strict , bureaucratic and ultra conservative .
Japanese companies and investors don't like to take risks.

A new lot of new drugs you can find approved in Europe or even the USA take decades to make into Japan.

Not too long ago I read the opposite. Japan wants to be at the forefront of stem-cell therapy. Not only academic research.
But I have no "inside" knowledge. Just something I read in the news.
 
I found this an interesting read.
The other document@laroux posted even earlier. The original article is from November 2012 :(. Could also be good? Is it not promising or is research ongoing?
Perhaps I completely misunderstood what is being explained in this document?
I am not sure how the stem cells from the bone marrow reach the cochlea.
quote: The aim of this work was to assess the use of G-CSF (Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor) to mobilize Bone Marrow Stem Cells to reach the inner ear of rats and its ability to repair damaged inner ear.
End quote.
Also what is not clear to me is what the use of G-CSF has got to do with the adult stem cells in the utricle.
Quote:
Recently, stem cells from the inner ear of adult mice have been identified (4). These adult stem cells are found in the utricle of the vestibular region of the inner ear. They have the characteristic features of stem cells such as the capacity for self renewal and expansion (they divide and multiply). They form spheres, which begin to differentiate into new cell types termed as progenitor cells. Some progenitor cells differentiate into cells that express proteins and genes present in the developing inner ear and nervous system. Under appropriate conditions, some cells differentiate into cells resembling hair cells, which have stereocilia; hair bundles protruding from their surface and express specific hair cell marker proteins. The discovery of such cells is a first step toward a promising line of treatment in restoring hearing and balance function.
End quote.
The results though were positive. It would be wonderful if your own stem-cells could be triggered to do repairs.
Anyone else read this?
 
I am visiting this forum from time to time.
I don't have tinnitus, i had last summer but it was due to sinuses and such.

I am however a hypochondriac and when i hear loud noises like today when i was minding my own business and some brats is firing fire crackers 40 m from you (detonationplace) do you want there to be a cure.

Hope i survice (and my hearing) even this time.

Damn you really hate people and their dumbness.. but hey science make a cure right now so i can take part of it if i need it!!
 
Anyone else read this?
Tissue specific stem cells are found in many parts of the body: the heart, the brain, the liver (to name a few).

Tissue specific stem cells are different from stem cells of the umbilical cord which have the ability to differentiate into several/many specific cell types.
 
Tissue specific stem cells are different from stem cells of the umbilical cord which have the ability to differentiate into several/many specific cell types.
But as I see stem cell for ear is still long far away????

The document mentioned that specific stem cells are found in the cochlea. And than the document continues, explaining a process using G-CSF to "free" adult stem cells from bone marrow into the blood stream. I read on the internet that G-CSF been used in medicine already to "harvest" ones one stem cells. I just did not see the connection in the document between the stem cells from bone marrow and the specific stem cells in the cochlea. And most important: why did the cochleas of these animals regenerate?
Although the document does state:
The aim of this work was to assess the use of G-CSF (Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor) to mobilize Bone Marrow Stem Cells to reach the inner ear of rats and its ability to repair damaged inner ear.[/QUOTE]
So concluding that the stem cells from the bone marrow initiated the repair is a correct one?
Why did the document mention stem cells in the cochlea?
Although I know that my intelligence is "unimpaired":whistle:, I am simply not knowledgeable enough to recognise the importance or judge research on its own merits.
Despite this, to me this process looks amazing and promising. Most important, this research shows that regeneration has taken place. For what reason(s) than should stem cell induced regeneration be so far away?
It must be my lack of knowledge.
An analogy could be computers. For many people a computer is just a box. If you understand all the different processes that run in this "box" and the fact that one process influences another process, you appreciate the complexity and are able to judge why something will or will not work.
 
The document mentioned that specific stem cells are found in the cochlea. And than the document continues, explaining a process using G-CSF to "free" adult stem cells from bone marrow into the blood stream. I read on the internet that G-CSF been used in medicine already to "harvest" ones one stem cells. I just did not see the connection in the document between the stem cells from bone marrow and the specific stem cells in the cochlea. And most important: why did the cochleas of these animals regenerate?
I have not read the study. Just skimmed it.

The approach seems to be similar to the treatment I had in Bangkok. Besides stem cells, they - the doctors - injected me with cytoplasmic peptides four times along with umbilical cord blood stem cells. The first type of injection does indeed release stem cells from the bone marrow, but, it is my understanding that these bone marrow stem cells do not help with regeneration of body tissue, but, help guide the injected stem cells with localizing damaged areas of the body: they do that by travelling around the body and secreting chemicals where wounded tissue is found. These chemical signals are picked up by the injected stem cells advancing repair.

This protocol was not followed in China. There are I was simply scheduled to receive ½-billion stem cells (MSC) from the umbilical cord itself (which is ton of stem cells for an otherwise healthy person). Generally if a person has co-morbidities, then more stem cells are injected (as the first batch of injected stem cells are "wasted" on other stuff in the body). For instance, there will always be a certain degree of inflammation in the liver.

You can perhaps ask @Silvio Sabo for an opinion. He is along with @locoyeti one of the most valuable resources this board has. Unfortunately, all their information (along with my own) is lost in all the background chatter that takes place on a public board with +150k posts... I have indexed my own posts so that it is somewhat easier to find via my information tab on my profile.

I do not wish to get entangled in a discussion about stem cells. I am simply too busy with other tinnitus related work in the background (I have become part of the inner circle of tinnitus research). I simply don't have the time anymore. In addition, I have shared mountains of information on stem cells already.

Incidentally, I am in the very early stages of assisting a stem cell hospital where we will try to come up with a protocol for treating sensorineural tinnitus (acute + chronic) using stem cells and perhaps using assisting therapies.

Research paper is also (now) attached with this post.
 

Attachments

  • ijsc-08-146.pdf
    25.3 MB · Views: 77
I am waiting with anticipation regarding the stem cell route. (And I am sure many other people do too).
Okay. So just briefly on that. I think there is now sufficient anecdotal evidence that both hearing loss and tinnitus in humans can be treated (to some degree). Tinnitus being the condition with a slightly more uncertain outcome (because it is a symptom rather than a disease). When dealing with a symptom you have to locate and treat the underlying factor. In the case of hearing loss, that is the factor itself...

This board may be unaware that there are numerous cases of humans being treated for hearing loss with stem cells already today. You just don't hear about them.

The "thing" with tinnitus is that it requires a multifaceted approach: stem cells (perhaps both IV + LB) over a long period of time, along with cold laser therapy, along with Kv7x drugs. But with such an approach, and with a correct treatment protocol, it is not improbable that chronic tinnitus can already be treated today (again to some degree). Main problem is the cost and the potential uncertainty of the outcome (mainly due to the fact that sensorineural tinnitus cannot be diagnosed, sensorineural hearing loss can).

You might ask yourself why you are hearing the above information from me (and not oh-so knowledgeable doctor around the corner in the city you live in). I will answer that with an example:



The video concerns uveitis (inflammation of the eye). If you go to 12:27, you will see that autologous stem cells are mentioned on the slide. But... the doctor does not mention the therapy - she skips it. Instead she spends the first part of the entire video discussing steroids as form of therapy (which is not particularly attractive when dealing with long term treatment). She then goes on to mention other forms of drugs that can be used for treatment, but, as with all drugs that are immunosuppressive, side-effects are tangible. Not so with stem cells. And what's more: treatment effect is likely permanent.

And as it happens, when it comes to uveitis, I demonstrated in humans a year earlier what researchers demonstrated in animals (see attachment paper). Besides tinnitus, I also had a case of uveitis, you see.

So what's the moral of the story. The take-away is that many people - unfortunately also those in key positions - lack leadership skills. This includes a sizeable quantity of the medical community who are content with upholding the status quo. Which from a psychological perspective is totally understandable: suppose you are the person sitting in the chair - the MD - and you are not suffering from tinnitus or uveitis, or some other disease, why the hell bother to make an effort beyond the established school of medicine, right? "Not my problem" attitude. I am not saying doctors are evil, I am just saying that many of them (probably as much as +90%) are not interested in making an effort to learn more. Example from a consultation:

ATEOS: "I would like to know if you could help me with enrollment in the AM-101 study or off-label treatment using the same drug"
ENT: "AM-101 - I have never heard of that..."
ATEOS: "...it's a drug containing esketamine - it's a drug by Auris Medical"
ENT: "That must be something new?"
ATEOS: "It's now in phase-III... actually Auris Medical was founded in 2003"

How an ENT manages to not know about a study pertaining to their own field of medicine and which has been around for +5 years, I don't know (actually, I do know - see formula below). In addition, the ENT's day-to-day colleague was a clinical trial physician of that very study (at another clinic) - something I found out the next day. Now that's total ignorance.

upload_2016-3-13_12-31-29.png


And I am sure many other people do too
You know, based on empirical observations, I don't actually think it - "a stem cell treatment package" - will get very much attention here on the forum. Most folks want their doctor's stamp of approval before they are willing to cough up any money (which due to mediocrity will not happen as the doctors are ignorant of such novelties). As an example, I am also active on a forum for uveitis where I share my knowledge of stem cells. In my case, I am 100% cured, and yet, when I mention my treatment in a forum where people are half-blind due to the progression of their disease, even then there is very little interest from forum members. Practically none, in fact...

So in some strange way, and despite all the suffering, the tinnitus community is not really ready for a cure. Just look at skepticism of the AM-101 study (which is FDA approved). Half the time, members are worried about hearing loss and pain from the injection. Seriously...??? People would rather have a life-time of tinnitus suffering than endure two seconds of pain...??? Human beings never cease to amaze me...
 

Attachments

  • Long-Term Therapeutic Effects of MSC Compared to Dexamethasone on Autoimmune Uveitis of Rats.pdf
    1,021.9 KB · Views: 46
Thanks @attheedgeofscience .
What you posted makes sense to me.
Only last year I got hearing loss, associated tinnitus, hyperacusis and distorted hearing. Al my life I have been a passionate technician. So only last year I started (also passionately) gaining knowledge in something completely different (biology).

I am not able to gain knowledge fast enough to make rational wise decisions for quite a while. I need years of gaining knowledge to make such important decisions.

I already read posts from you regarding your stem cell treatment, but this discussion rekindled my interest into stem cell technology even more.
It will just take a lot of time. But I will persevere. That is something I know I do well:bookworm:
 
@attheedgeofscience Winning!
You're right it takes the physical to become the physical. Just been of Trobalt to start my AM101 screening, after that Ibiza to do some LLLT. Should look more into stem cell opportunities; will be reading your Bangkok posts. Your above message made lots of sense and somehow gave inspiration..

Anyway, thanks from sunny Amsterdam:cool:
 
@attheedgeofscience Winning!
You're right it takes the physical to become the physical. Just been of Trobalt to start my AM101 screening, after that Ibiza to do some LLLT. Should look more into stem cell opportunities; will be reading your Bangkok posts. Your above message made lots of sense and somehow gave inspiration..

Anyway, thanks from sunny Amsterdam:cool:


For me Trobalt was miracle. 4 months made my tinnitus go to 5%, hardly to hear. I had to go to totally isolated room in night to hear something maybe like blood flow or heart beats., for 4 months and then stopped working. Still it helps sleep, but I get stronger and stronger T ,every 2 months so now I can't even sleep, I must make my room colder, go lay in hot bath 30 minutes, watch some tv show and I get tired and drink a bit milk, and then I fall asleep, no light, or very weak light 1 hour before going to sleep.

Do you believe in LLLT?
 
For me Trobalt was miracle. 4 months made my tinnitus go to 5%, hardly to hear. I had to go to totally isolated room in night to hear something maybe like blood flow or heart beats., for 4 months and then stopped working. Still it helps sleep, but I get stronger and stronger T ,every 2 months so now I can't even sleep, I must make my room colder, go lay in hot bath 30 minutes, watch some tv show and I get tired and drink a bit milk, and then I fall asleep, no light, or very weak light 1 hour before going to sleep.

Do you believe in LLLT?

I don't know if I believe..but you might as well try everything and see if it works for you
 
It is not inner hair cell regeneration, but it is regeneration.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/307685.php?tw
quote:
Instead, the team coaxed stem cells in the patients' eyes to regrow the lenses. So-called endogenous stem cells are stem cells that are naturally already in place, ready to regenerate new tissue in the case of injury or some other problem.
In the case of the human eye, the endogenous stem cells - known as lens epithelial stem cells (LECs) - generate replacement lens cells throughout a person's life, although production wanes with age.

End quote.
And now for the ear.:whistle:
 
I came across a presentation by the scientific director of the hearing restoration project this evening. You can find the pdf or a link to a video of the presentation at http://hearinghealthfoundation.org/blog?blogid=207 (The links are right before "Your Support Is Needed".)

It's still at the level of basic science, but it is interesting to see how they operate and what avenues they are pursuing. It's pretty clear that CRISPER combined with big data bioinformatics are going to speed up the process of understanding the genetic processes underlying hair cell regeneration (well, pretty much everything genetic...) and decrease the time to find drug candidates. Doesn't mean it will be "fast", but it will be faster than it was before gene editing became "easy".
 
The company has little experience with hearing disorders, instead concentrating on such areas as circulatory and respiratory diseases. Its move into the field is part of a strategy of focusing on ailments with no treatment options.
End quote.
So they are making a strategic move because there is future earnings to be made? They will not be philanthropists, so I see this as a good sign.
What is the expression?: "Jump on the bandwagon"? I do hope this is what is happening.
Good find.
 
Okay. So just briefly on that. I think there is now sufficient anecdotal evidence that both hearing loss and tinnitus in humans can be treated (to some degree). Tinnitus being the condition with a slightly more uncertain outcome (because it is a symptom rather than a disease). When dealing with a symptom you have to locate and treat the underlying factor. In the case of hearing loss, that is the factor itself...

This board may be unaware that there are numerous cases of humans being treated for hearing loss with stem cells already today. You just don't hear about them.

The "thing" with tinnitus is that it requires a multifaceted approach: stem cells (perhaps both IV + LB) over a long period of time, along with cold laser therapy, along with Kv7x drugs. But with such an approach, and with a correct treatment protocol, it is not improbable that chronic tinnitus can already be treated today (again to some degree). Main problem is the cost and the potential uncertainty of the outcome (mainly due to the fact that sensorineural tinnitus cannot be diagnosed, sensorineural hearing loss can).

You might ask yourself why you are hearing the above information from me (and not oh-so knowledgeable doctor around the corner in the city you live in). I will answer that with an example:



The video concerns uveitis (inflammation of the eye). If you go to 12:27, you will see that autologous stem cells are mentioned on the slide. But... the doctor does not mention the therapy - she skips it. Instead she spends the first part of the entire video discussing steroids as form of therapy (which is not particularly attractive when dealing with long term treatment). She then goes on to mention other forms of drugs that can be used for treatment, but, as with all drugs that are immunosuppressive, side-effects are tangible. Not so with stem cells. And what's more: treatment effect is likely permanent.

And as it happens, when it comes to uveitis, I demonstrated in humans a year earlier what researchers demonstrated in animals (see attachment paper). Besides tinnitus, I also had a case of uveitis, you see.

So what's the moral of the story. The take-away is that many people - unfortunately also those in key positions - lack leadership skills. This includes a sizeable quantity of the medical community who are content with upholding the status quo. Which from a psychological perspective is totally understandable: suppose you are the person sitting in the chair - the MD - and you are not suffering from tinnitus or uveitis, or some other disease, why the hell bother to make an effort beyond the established school of medicine, right? "Not my problem" attitude. I am not saying doctors are evil, I am just saying that many of them (probably as much as +90%) are not interested in making an effort to learn more. Example from a consultation:

ATEOS: "I would like to know if you could help me with enrollment in the AM-101 study or off-label treatment using the same drug"
ENT: "AM-101 - I have never heard of that..."
ATEOS: "...it's a drug containing esketamine - it's a drug by Auris Medical"
ENT: "That must be something new?"
ATEOS: "It's now in phase-III... actually Auris Medical was founded in 2003"

How an ENT manages to not know about a study pertaining to their own field of medicine and which has been around for +5 years, I don't know (actually, I do know - see formula below). In addition, the ENT's day-to-day colleague was a clinical trial physician of that very study (at another clinic) - something I found out the next day. Now that's total ignorance.

View attachment 9711


You know, based on empirical observations, I don't actually think it - "a stem cell treatment package" - will get very much attention here on the forum. Most folks want their doctor's stamp of approval before they are willing to cough up any money (which due to mediocrity will not happen as the doctors are ignorant of such novelties). As an example, I am also active on a forum for uveitis where I share my knowledge of stem cells. In my case, I am 100% cured, and yet, when I mention my treatment in a forum where people are half-blind due to the progression of their disease, even then there is very little interest from forum members. Practically none, in fact...

So in some strange way, and despite all the suffering, the tinnitus community is not really ready for a cure. Just look at skepticism of the AM-101 study (which is FDA approved). Half the time, members are worried about hearing loss and pain from the injection. Seriously...??? People would rather have a life-time of tinnitus suffering than endure two seconds of pain...??? Human beings never cease to amaze me...


Ahum,the ATEOS formula lol.

The difference between a doctor and a researcher is huge.Not saying they are two separate things by default
but your assessment is bit lol exaggerated.Your regular physician follows literature and a researcher is exploring
the unknown.It's not really a formula.
 
Some progress toward testing for damage to the auditory nerve: http://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/13/3755.short
I don't have access to the paper so I don't know more than what is here.

Auditory Brainstem Response Latency in Noise as a Marker of Cochlear Synaptopathy

Abstract

Evidence from animal and human studies suggests that moderate acoustic exposure, causing only transient threshold elevation, can nonetheless cause "hidden hearing loss" that interferes with coding of suprathreshold sound. Such noise exposure destroys synaptic connections between cochlear hair cells and auditory nerve fibers; however, there is no clinical test of this synaptopathy in humans. In animals, synaptopathy reduces the amplitude of auditory brainstem response (ABR) wave-I. Unfortunately, ABR wave-I is difficult to measure in humans, limiting its clinical use. Here, using analogous measurements in humans and mice, we show that the effect of masking noise on the latency of the more robust ABR wave-V mirrors changes in ABR wave-I amplitude. Furthermore, in our human cohort, the effect of noise on wave-V latency predicts perceptual temporal sensitivity. Our results suggest that measures of the effects of noise on ABR wave-V latency can be used to diagnose cochlear synaptopathy in humans.


SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Although there are suspicions that cochlear synaptopathy affects humans with normal hearing thresholds, no one has yet reported a clinical measure that is a reliable marker of such loss. By combining human and animal data, we demonstrate that the latency of auditory brainstem response wave-V in noise reflects auditory nerve loss. This is the first study of human listeners with normal hearing thresholds that links individual differences observed in behavior and auditory brainstem response timing to cochlear synaptopathy. These results can guide development of a clinical test to reveal this previously unknown form of noise-induced hearing loss in humans.
 
I understand there is a rudimentary method. The cochlea also generates sound after sound is introduced. This is picked up by a very sensitive microphone. It is possible to see in which area hair-cells are absent. But like I said, I think this is only a course method to determine hair-cell population in the cochlea.

there is also that rest where they play beeps on different freq and see if there is reaction on 5 spots on face and there is the way to see gaps in cell blocks.
 
there is also that rest where they play beeps on different freq and see if there is reaction on 5 spots on face and there is the way to see gaps in cell blocks.
That is still not very accurate I would imagen.
If this (@Aaron123 ) "Auditory Brainstem Response Latency in Noise as a Marker of Cochlear Synaptopathy" can be more accurate that would be wonderful.
Developing this should not take an enormous amount of time? And tests are not invasive.
I volunteer (-;
 
I'm just so happy that they are finally looking at the auditory nerve and synapses as causes for T and H and hidden hearing loss.My condition has worsened twice since getting it but yet my audiograms and OAEs say my hearing is perfect up to 10,000hz but I can personally hear upto 16000hz.Mine is noise induced and I've long believed that the connections underneath the hair cell is where the problem lies.
 

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