Familial aggregation of pure tone hearing thresholds in an aging European population.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the familial correlations and intraclass correlation of age-related hearing impairment (ARHI) in specific frequencies. In addition, heritability estimates were calculated. STUDY DESIGN: Multicenter survey in 8 European centers. SUBJECTS: One hundred ninety-eight families consisting of 952 family members, screened by otologic examination and structured interviews. Subjects with general conditions, known to affect hearing thresholds or known otologic cause were excluded from the study. RESULTS: We detected familial correlation coefficients of 0.36, 0.37, 0.36, and 0.30 for 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz, respectively, and correlation coefficients of 0.20 and 0.18 for 4 and 8 kHz, respectively. Variance components analyses showed that the proportion of the total variance attributable to family differences was between 0.32 and 0.40 for 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz and below 0.20 for 4 and 8 kHz. When testing for homogeneity between sib pair types, we observed a larger familial correlation between female than male subjects. Heritability estimates ranged between 0.79 and 0.36 across the frequencies. DISCUSSION: Our results indicate that there is a substantial shared familial effect in ARHI. We found that familial aggregation of ARHI is markedly higher in the low frequencies and that there is a trend toward higher familial aggregation in female compared with male subjects.

Occupational noise, smoking, and a high body mass index are risk factors for age-related hearing impairment and moderate alcohol consumption is protective: a European population-based multicenter study.

A multicenter study was set up to elucidate the environmental and medical risk factors contributing to age-related hearing impairment (ARHI). Nine subsamples, collected by nine audiological centers across Europe, added up to a total of 4,083 subjects between 53 and 67 years. Audiometric data (pure-tone average [PTA]) were collected and the participants filled out a questionnaire on environmental risk factors and medical history. People with a history of disease that could affect hearing were excluded. PTAs were adjusted for age and sex and tested for association with exposure to risk factors. Noise exposure was associated with a significant loss of hearing at high sound frequencies (>1 kHz). Smoking significantly increased high-frequency hearing loss, and the effect was dose-dependent. The effect of smoking remained significant when accounting for cardiovascular disease events. Taller people had better hearing on average with a more pronounced effect at low sound frequencies (<2 kHz). A high body mass index (BMI) correlated with hearing loss across the frequency range tested. Moderate alcohol consumption was inversely correlated with hearing loss. Significant associations were found in the high as well as in the low frequencies. The results suggest that a healthy lifestyle can protect against age-related hearing impairment.

The grainyhead like 2 gene (GRHL2), alias TFCP2L3, is associated with age-related hearing impairment.

Age-related hearing impairment (ARHI) is the most prevalent sensory impairment in the elderly. ARHI is a complex disease caused by an interaction between environmental and genetic factors. The contribution of various environmental factors has been relatively extensively studied. In contrast, investigations to identify the genetic risk factors have only recently been initiated. In this paper we describe the results of an association study performed on 2418 ARHI samples derived from nine centers from seven European countries. In 70 candidate genes, a total of 768 tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected based on HAPMAP data. These genes were chosen among the monogenic hearing loss genes identified in mice and men in addition to several strong functional candidates. After genotyping and data polishing, statistical analysis of all samples combined resulted in a P-value that survived correction for multiple testing for one SNP in the GRHL2 gene. Other SNPs in this gene were also associated, albeit to a lesser degree. Subsequently, an analysis of the most significant GRHL2 SNP was performed separately for each center. The direction of the association was identical in all nine centers. Two centers showed significant associations and a third center showed a trend towards significance. Subsequent fine mapping of this locus demonstrated that the majority of the associated SNPs reside in intron 1. We hypothesize that the causative variant may change the expression levels of a GRHL2 isoform.

The contribution of GJB2 (Connexin 26) 35delG to age-related hearing impairment and noise-induced hearing loss.

HYPOTHESIS: The common GJB2 (Connexin 26) 35delG mutation might contribute to the development of age-related hearing impairment (ARHI) and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). BACKGROUND: GJB2, a gene encoding a gap junction protein expressed in the inner ear, has been suggested to be involved in the potassium recycling pathway in the cochlea. GJB2 mutations account for a large number of individuals with nonsyndromic recessive hearing loss, with 35delG being the most frequent mutation in populations of European origin. Other genes involved in potassium homeostasis have been suggested to be associated with ARHI and NIHL, and distortion product otoacoustic emission distortions indicative of hearing loss alterations have been found in 35delG carriers. METHOD: We genotyped 35delG in two distinct sample sets: an ARHI sample set, composed of 2,311 Caucasian samples from nine different centers originating from seven different countries with an age range between 53 and 67 years, and an NIHL sample set consisting of 702 samples from the two extremes of a noise-exposed Polish sample. RESULTS: After statistical analysis, we were unable to detect an association between 35delG and ARHI, nor between 35delG and NIHL. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that there is no increased susceptibility in 35delG carriers for the development of ARHI or NIHL.