The Neurobiology of Hearing group, led by Prof. Isabel Varela Nieto, will carry out trials in cellular and animal models throughout 2021 to evaluate the efficacy of cholesterolnithrones in the treatment of presbicusis and hearing loss associated to cisplatin ototoxicity. These small molecules are potent antioxidant agents which have shown a strong neuroprotective effect in in vitro studies, in neuronal primary cultures and in animal models of global and focal brain ischemia in rats and mice. The results of this works will be critical to confirm the potential of this molecule as a compound-lead for entry into the preclinical phase.
This project, in which the Medical Chemistry Laboratory of the Institute of General Organic Chemistry of the CSIC is also participating, led by Prof. José Luis Marco Contelles, has been selected by the Fundación General CSIC (FGCSIC) within the Interreg V-A Spain-Portugal (POCTEP) Programme for a Long-lived Society (PSL) and financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).