Researchers are investigating a novel molecule which they claim offers hope of an effective treatment for acute sudden hearing loss and for preserving residual hearing in cochlear implant recipients.
They found the small molecule pyridoindole AC102 has an anti-inflammatory effect which protects the hair cells and auditory nerves from dying.
A study to confirm efficacy in human patients with acute sudden hearing loss is now underway at several European centres.
The researchers’ latest results found a single preoperative dose of the AC102 improved the recovery of residual hearing in an animal model of cochlear implantation. Results were published in Nature journal, Cell Death & Disease.
One of the study authors was Professor Hans Rommelspacher, founder of Audio Cure Pharma GmbH, a German pharmaceutical company with a focus on hearing impairments which has developed AC102.
In cochlear implantation, preservation of residual hearing is crucial as the remaining “natural” hearing in combination with the electrical stimulation of the implant improves speech comprehension and general hearing perception. The surgical procedure can damage the inner ear and lead to loss of residual hearing. Until now, there has been no effective method to prevent or treat this loss.
“In our study, we have now been able to show that the residual hearing of animals that were administered AC102 once increasingly recovered in contrast to untreated animals,” said first author Dr Michael Nieratschker from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at MedUni Vienna.
“With the help of cell cultures and inner ear models, the study also found an explanation for this effect: AC102 has an anti-inflammatory effect and thus protects the hair cells and auditory nerves from dying.”
Results meant AC102 could also be effective in acute sudden hearing loss said another of the study’s authors, Dr Christoph Arnoldner from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at MedUni Vienna. Dr Arnolder is head of the CD Laboratory for Inner Ear Research at the university.
“Sudden hearing loss is usually treated with cortisone, but recent studies show that this approach often does not work,” he said.
Dr Nieratschker said that since inflammatory processes and cell damage also played a role in acute sudden hearing loss, as was the case in residual hearing loss in cochlear implantation, researchers also investigated AC102 in acute sudden hearing loss,
Eficacy of the substance was demonstrated in a preclinical study.
involving MedUni Vienna, and a Phase I study to confirm safe use at MedUni Vienna and Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands had also been successfully completed.
A Phase II study to confirm efficacy in patients is now being conducted at several European centres, including MedUni Vienna’s Department of Otorhinolaryngology.
“All the results so far give us reason to hope that AC102 could be suitable for the treatment of acute sudden hearing loss,” Dr Arnoldner and Dr Nieratschker said.
An earlier study also demonstrated that a single interventive application of AC102 into the middle ear restored auditory function almost to prenoise levels in a guinea pig model of noise-induced hearing loss.
