Stria vascularis ear structure discovery could lead to hearing loss treatment

New research with funding from UK charity, Action on Hearing Loss, has led to the discovery of a new biological mechanism, the stria vascularis, involved in the progressive loss of hearing, which could lead to new approaches to treating this common form of hearing loss.

The stria vascularis is essential for normal hearing and is involved in maintaining the endocochlear potential – a difference in charged molecules between compartments of the inner ear which act like a battery to power the transmission of sound signals from the ear to the brain.

Mutation S1pr2

Researchers made the discovery while investigating why mice with a specific mutation in a gene called S1pr2 have a progressive loss of hearing and found degeneration of the stria vascularis and a low endocochlear potential in these mice correlated with their loss of hearing.

Significantly, the gene in humans is also associated with changes in people’s ability to hear – making this discovery relevant to progressive hearing loss in the human population.

Treating progressive hearing loss

Professor Karen Steel at King’s College London who led the research said, ‘Our finding suggests that designing treatments to boost the function of the stria vascularis could be important in treating some forms of progressive hearing loss. What is needed now are accurate ways of diagnosing what part of the ear is affected so that in the future the most appropriate treatment can be administered.’