MAPK8 and noise induced hearing loss: Sun et al. (2021) conducted a study to explore the effect of JNK1 polymorphisms on the sensitivity of NIHL, and the results indicated that the rs11598320 TT genotype and the rs8428 TT genotype may be associated with a higher risk of NIHL. Interestingly, a previous study has also reported that prednisone, a well-known steroid clinically used in the treatment of hearing loss, could inhibit the IL-1β-induced activation of JNK1 (Hong and Jang, 2014).