SLC26A5 and sensorineural hearing loss disorder: When we originally proposed prestin [1] as a biomarker of inner ear health, we postulated that changes in their blood levels could occur either as a result of direct damage (e.g., the release of prestin from dying OHCs) or altered expression of cochlear proteins induced by deleterious agents. Our findings, in the setting of a chronic condition, seem to support the latter hypothesis. Specifically, age- and SNHL-related increases in the biomarker levels may reflect a compensatory upregulation of the expression of inner ear proteins in the surviving hair cells.