Author(s)
Diana Daniel BS
Ashley Parker MA BA
Ruby Feng BA
Gianfranco Galantini BS
Erika Skoe PhD
Kourosh Parham MD PhD
Affiliation(s)
UConn School of Medicine, University of Connecticut, Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery;
Abstract:
Educational Objective: At the conclusion of this presentation, the participants should be able to discuss the relationship between inner ear protein levels and varying degrees of noise dose, as well as potential implications of this relationship such as development of early detection prior to noise induced hearing loss.
Objectives: Specific ear proteins may serve as quantifiable biomarkers that assess cochlear health. We hypothesize that levels of stereocilin, a protein within the specialized sensory inner ear hair cells, will be influenced by daily noise exposure.
Study Design: This study is a prospective cohort study assessing potential deviations in stereocilin levels in the serum of subjects with different amounts of daily noise exposure.
Methods: Three weeklong measurements of average daily noise exposure were obtained from 30 young adult patients with clinically normal hearing through a body worn noise dosimeter. From this data, average daily sound energy [normalized to an 8 hour period, LAeq, 8h] and noise dose [%] were calculated and compared to circulating levels of stereocilin in the participant's serum.
Results: We examined the relation between average serum stereocilin levels (log (ug/mL)) and average noise exposure levels [LAeq, 8h], (r= -0.4824, p = 0.007). Grouping by noise dose, subjects with a higher risk of noise damage (M=3.66) had lower average stereocilin levels than those with lower risk (M=4.45) [independent t test: 2.07, p=0.0478].
Conclusions: Subjects with increased levels of noise exposure exhibit lower levels of stereocilin, as demonstrated by the negative correlation coefficient. The relationship may be an early indicator of risk of cochlear injury prior to clinical onset and enable therapeutic interventions.