A dual-organ genetic interplay between sensorineural hearing loss and kidney disease: an update for clinicians.

Hearing loss (HL) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are conditions with high prevalence worldwide. Patients with oto-renal disorders are reported to have both syndromic forms of HL and kidney dysfunction due to common molecular signaling pathways. The major shared genetic factors, common developmental pathways, and physiological mechanisms adversely affect the auditory and kidney systems. This review consolidates the common morphogenic origins of the kidney and the cochlea, which focus on the major shared genes, networks, and oto-renal disorders that affect the cilia, collagen networks, and transport channels in both systems. This article shines a spotlight on mechanisms and pathophysiology of the major congenital disorders causing HL and kidney diseases. In addition to this, other risk factors including hemodialysis and certain drugs increase the risk of HL in patients with CKD. This review can help clinicians navigate options for differential diagnosis of oto-renal disorders. An interdisciplinary approach across nephrologists, audiologists, pediatricians, and geneticists can pave the way for effective screening, diagnosis, and treatment interventions. This also underscores the importance of future research on the ear-kidney axis to understand molecular signaling, biomarker discovery, and clinical management.