Cortisol and inflammatory factors in patients with occupational noise-induced hearing loss and their clinical significance / 中国职业医学

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the levels of cortisol and inflammatory factors and their influencing factors in patients with occupational noise-induced hearing loss(ONID). METHODS: A total of 106 ONID patients were selected as the ONID group, and 50 healthy participants without noise exposure were selected as the control group by judge sampling method. The levels of salivary cortisol in the two groups were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.The serum levels of cortisol, tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α), interleukin-6(IL-6) and C-reactive protein(CRP) in the peripheral blood were detected by electrochemiluminescence assay. Tinnitus Handicap Inventory was used to evaluate the disability levels of tinnitus in ONID patients. RESULTS: The level of salivary cortisol in the morning and in the nighttime, and cortisol, TNF-α, IL-6 in the serum were higher in the ONID group compared with that in the control group(P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the serum level of CRP between these two groups(P>0.05). Spearman correlation analysis results showed that the level of cortisol in the saliva and in the serum was not correlated with TNF-α and IL-6(P>0.05). Analysis of multiple linear regression showed that the levels of serum cortisol and salivary cortisol in the morning in the ONID patients were positively correlated with noise exposure level(P<0.05). The level of TNF-α in the serum was positively correlated with tinnitus score(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Hyperactivity of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and inflammation activation may exist in patients with ONID. The cortisol can be used as a biomarker for the effect of noise-stress.