Can chicken cure deafness itself?

The results of the study of the ability to reproduce sound-recognizing cells after hearing loss in chickens raise hope for the birth of a method of reversing deafness in humans.

The ability to discriminate and hear the difference between words with similar sounds depends on specialized cells inside the cochlea, a small spiral structure in the inner ear. These cells are called "hair cells" and are likely to be damaged.

For the first time, scientists have discovered factors that control the development and alignment of these sensitive hearing cells through chicken research. Unlike humans, chickens have the ability to reproduce sound-recognizing cells after hearing loss.

If scientists can understand what causes chicken cells to grow again, they will one day, according to a study report by the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the National Institute of Deaf and Disorders. Someone can replicate this process in humans to reverse hearing loss.

Unlike humans, chickens have the ability to recover hearing loss within a few weeks.(Photo: Corbis)

Researcher Jeffrey Corwin said that if humans and chickens were told a sound loud enough to destroy the ability to hear a certain pitch, the consequences would be very different. He said: "We will lose the ability to hear that sound for the rest of our lives. The chickens also lose that ability, but within 10 days, they have recovered sensitive hearing cells, fastening them. back to the nerves and within a few weeks, the hearing ability will be as old and almost no different from the beginning. "

Benjamin Thiede, head of the study, explained that, when we hear different sounds, not all hair cells in the cochlea react, but only hair cells sensitive to the frequencies. certain sound numbers. The sounds are high pitched because the cells have shorter hair bundles, located closest to where the sound enters the ears, felt. Meanwhile, the sounds have lower pitch due to the higher hair cells, located deep inside, in charge.

Mr. Thiede and his colleagues discovered that two molecules of Bmp7 and retinoic acid guide hair cells to develop location-dependent properties. In particular, Bmp7 triggered the initial task delimitation and retinoic acid that coordinated cell hair bundles developed in different lengths.

The team had evidence that existed different levels of retinoic acid along the length of the cochlea. Through testing, they created longer hair cells by adding retinoic acid and shorter hair cells by adding chemicals that block the action of the acid.

When chickens reproduce damaged hair cells, new cells develop properly with the characteristics of cells in certain areas along the cochlea. Researchers believe that creating the re-activating signals of Bmp7 and retinoic acid is a feasible path to help develop new methods to treat hearing loss in humans.