• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Friday, October 10, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Antibiotics used to treat cystic fibrosis increases risk of permanent hearing loss

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
February 24, 2017
in Science News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff

A powerful class of antibiotics provides life-saving relief for people with cystic fibrosis; however, a new study for the first time reveals the levels at which high cumulative dosages over time significantly increases the risk of permanent hearing loss in these patients.

Cystic fibrosis, or CF, is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. Approximately 30,000 people in the United States and 70,000 worldwide are living with the disease.

The study, to be published Feb. 23 in the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, suggests physicians who treat patients with cystic fibrosis may be able to consider alternative strategies for treating the symptoms of respiratory infections associated with CF, especially if patients are responsive to different classes of antibiotics. New medications are emerging that have shown a reduced toxic effect on both the kidneys and ears of these patients, while effectively treating infections.

"Preventing or ameliorating the effects of permanent [hearing loss] is crucial for patients with CF who already have a significantly compromised quality of life due to the disease," the authors concluded.

The study examined the medical records of 81 CF patients, aged 15 to 63 years, grouping them into four quartiles based on the cumulative dosage of aminoglycoside antibiotics administered intravenously. Researchers found that the two highest dosage groups were 4.79 times more likely to experience permanent hearing loss than the two quartiles with the lowest cumulative dosage exposure.

"This is an early step toward developing a model for predicting hearing loss in these patients," said lead author Angela Garinis, Ph.D., a senior research associate in the Oregon Hearing Research Center at OHSU and research audiologist with the VA Portland Health Care System.

Aminoglycosides inhibit bacterial protein synthesis, and they are often necessary to clear life-threatening respiratory infections. However, these medications can degrade auditory function in the inner ear as well as kidney function.

Previous research had demonstrated a greater risk of hearing loss from aminoglycoside antibiotics, but the new study is the first to factor in cumulative exposure over a patient's lifetime while also weighting the daily dosing schedule used by patients. The findings suggest it is imperative for physicians to routinely monitor hearing in any patient receiving aminoglycosides intravenously.

"This information will allow both the patient and the physician to discuss possible modifications to the treatment regimen, particularly if an alternative approach is or becomes available," according to the study.

Patients with cystic fibrosis are living longer, raising the importance of maintaining their quality of life over a longer period of time.

"People don't realize the trauma of hearing loss until after they've lost it," said senior author Peter Steyger, Ph.D., a professor of otolaryngology/head and neck surgery in the OHSU School of Medicine who lost hearing as a child after being treated with antibiotics for a case of meningitis at age 14 months. "Helen Keller said, 'Blindness separates people from things; deafness separates people from people.' It can lead to isolation, depression and cognitive decline."

###

In addition to Garinis and Steyger, authors include Campbell P. Cross, Priya Srikanth, Kelly Carroll, M. Patrick Feeney, Ph.D., Daniel B. Putterman, Au.D., David M. Cohen, M.D., and Jeffrey A. Gold, M.D., of OHSU; Douglas H. Keefe, Ph.D., of Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska; and Lisa L. Hunter, Ph.D., of Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Garinis, Feeney and Putterman have joint appointments at the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research at the VA Portland Health Care System in Portland.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health CTSA grant (UL1TR000128) to the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute and NIH-NIDCD Grant Awards: R01 DC004555, R01 DC012588, and R01 DC10202.

Media Contact

Erik Robinson
[email protected]
503-494-7986
@ohsunews

http://www.ohsu.edu

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

Revolutionizing Blood Cancer Treatment: Reprogramming Cancer Cell Death to Activate the Immune System

October 10, 2025

LED Light Targets and Destroys Cancer Cells While Protecting Healthy Tissue

October 10, 2025

Upcoming Release: The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Highlights – October 10, 2025

October 10, 2025

Wirth Named Fellow of the American Physical Society

October 10, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1196 shares
    Share 478 Tweet 299
  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    102 shares
    Share 41 Tweet 26
  • New Study Indicates Children’s Risk of Long COVID Could Double Following a Second Infection – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

    96 shares
    Share 38 Tweet 24
  • Revolutionizing Optimization: Deep Learning for Complex Systems

    83 shares
    Share 33 Tweet 21

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Revolutionizing Blood Cancer Treatment: Reprogramming Cancer Cell Death to Activate the Immune System

LED Light Targets and Destroys Cancer Cells While Protecting Healthy Tissue

Upcoming Release: The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Highlights – October 10, 2025

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 63 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.