Скачать или смотреть Use of Interleukin-10 to Prevent Gentamicin-Induced Cochlear Ototoxicity - Emma Bultitude

Research undertaken Emma Bultitude with support from Professor Paul Smith, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Healthcare Otago Charitable Trust Scholar

Can You Hear Me?
University of Otago research group hope to reduce the prevalence of hearing loss in people treated with antibiotics.

Aminoglycoside antibiotics are one of the gold standard treatment for bacterial infections, but unfortunately this is marred by their ability to cause permanent hearing loss. Normally, cells within the cochlea of the auditory system change sounds into signals which the brain uses, allowing us to understand and respond appropriately to the sounds. These cells are killed by aminoglycoside antibiotics and sounds cannot be converted or understood, resulting in irreversible hearing loss.

There is no treatment available to stop damage to the cochlear cells, meaning a large proportion of aminoglycoside antibiotic users become infection free, but are unable to hear well. This is especially prevalent in developing countries where these antibiotics are extensively used due to their low cost.

The Smith research group at the University of Otago are performing microdissections in rats, on tissue within the cochlea, to investigate this issue further. The group is using the aminoglycoside antibiotic gentamicin in conjunction with the anti-inflammatory mediator interleukin-10. Interleukin-10 has been shown to protect cells from induced cellular death. It is believed that when applied to cochlear tissue with gentamicin, it could block gentamicin from killing cochlear cells and therefore prevent hearing loss.

This research hopes to shed light on a possible treatment to reduce the high prevalence of aminoglycoside antibiotic users with hearing deficits.