Researchers from China and US found that a drug commonly used to treat diabetes slowed down progression of hearing loss in macaques
The researchers also found that it was possible to slow down age-related hearing loss in the monkeys by using a common diabetes medication called metformin, which they said had potential as a clinical treatment for the condition.
“Our study provides an in-depth characterisation of cellular and molecular ageing patterns in primate cochleae at an unprecedented single-cell resolution,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Aging on June 20.
“These findings lay the foundation for the development of new treatments for presbycusis and provide the possibility of personalised medicine,” said study author Wang Si, a professor at the Capital Medical University-affiliated Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing.
