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Researchers said that Gene therapy A Chinese company is developing it to restore hearing to children suffering from congenital deafness, which supports growing evidence of the effectiveness of such treatments.
According to a report published in The Lancet medical journal, 5 out of 6 young children suffering from severe deafness experienced an improvement in their sense of hearing as well as an improvement in speech recognition after 6 months of undergoing the treatment developed by RefreshingGen Therapeutics.
All of the children suffered from severe deafness caused by mutations in the otoferlin gene. The protein otoferlin is essential for transmitting sound signals from the ear to the brain.
Previous research indicates that mutations in this gene are responsible for 2 to 3% of cases of congenital deafness. One in every thousand children in the United States suffers from moderate to severe hearing loss.
In surgical interventions conducted at the Eye, Nose, Ear and Throat Hospital at Fudan University, researchers used a harmless virus to carry a copy of the human gene to the patients’ inner ear.
The researchers announced after 26 weeks that 5 of the 6 children showed signs of improved hearing, as well as a significant improvement in speech perception and the ability to conduct conversations.
The researchers added that the side effects were mostly minor and none of them had a long-term effect.
Researchers are not sure why the sixth child did not respond to treatment. One possible explanation is that some of the gene therapy solution leaked from the inner ear during or after surgery.
