Stem Cell Transplantation for Cochlear Hair Cell Regeneration in Sensorineural Hearing Loss.
Cochlea forms a very important part of the hearing mechanism. Most of the inner ear disorders which include the loss due to hair cells of cochlea or spiral ganglion neurons are among the difficult to treat and such cells die soon.1 In mammals, cochlea is a complex structure.
Cochlea comprises different types of cell. Among such cell types are auditory hair cells. They are unique cells which might have lost regenerative power after development. Noise exposure or ototoxicity may affect these auditory hair cells very easily. Any damage to these auditory hair cells may even cause permanent hearing loss. Several technologies such as hearing aids and cochlear implants has been a great source of help which can benefit people with hearing loss but they are not efficient to permanently cure hearing loss.
Stem cells transplantation as proven to be an effective tool for the treatment of sensorineural hearing loss. It helps in regeneration of various tissues and organ systems. At present many diseases such as cancers, diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus, hearing loss and many other infectious diseases can be treated well with the use of stem cell therapy.
Stem cell transplantation has been reported to cure many such diseases now which were earlier thought to be incurable there by this technique is helping to improve quality of life of people suffering from these diseases. Stem cell transplantation for hearing loss aims at cochlear hair cell regeneration and thus aids in achieving restoration.
Otolaryngol Open J. 2018; SE(4): S1-S4. doi: 10.17140/OTLOJ-SE-4
