Chronic Inflammation and Hearing Loss: Key Biomarkers and Subgroup Differences by Gender and BMI in a National Cohort

IF 3.1 4区医学 Q3 IMMUNOLOGY

Immunity, Inflammation and Disease Pub Date : 2025-04-09 DOI:10.1002/iid3.70188

Zhe Peng, Chun-li Zhao, Guo-peng Wang, Qian Wu, Shu-sheng Gong

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Hearing loss (HL) significantly impacts quality of life and economic status worldwide. Chronic inflammation is suggested to influence hearing, yet the connection with inflammation-related indexes in the general population is not well understood.

Methods

This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 7231 adults from six cycles (2005–2012 and 2015–2018) of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). It examined the correlation between systemic immune-inflammatory biomarkers (NLR, SII, PLR, and LMR) and auditory threshold shifts/HL using multivariable logistic regression models. Smooth curve fitting visualized the association, and log-likelihood ratio tests determined the existence of thresholds in biomarker effects, supplemented by subgroup analyses.

Results

After adjustments, significant associations were found for low-frequency HL with ln-transformed NLR (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.06–1.56, p = 0.0116), ln-SII (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.08–1.59, p = 0.0065), and ln-LMR (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.60–0.91, p = 0.00043). For high-frequency HL, similar patterns were observed for ln-SII (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.05–1.48, p = 0.0105) and ln-LMR (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.64–0.90, p = 0.007); however, the association with ln-NLR did not reach statistical significance (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.00–1.40, p = 0.0562). NLR and SII positively correlated with HL, while LMR showed a negative correlation. No significant association was noted with PLR. Dose–response relationships were observed, particularly between LMR and all categorized frequencies of HL and between SII and high-frequency HL. Subgroup analyses indicated that NLR and SII are risk factors for HL in healthy BMI males, with LMR being more protective in males, the elderly, and diabetics.

Conclusions

Systemic inflammation-related indexes, especially SII, are predictive of both high- and low-frequency HL, highlighting the role of inflammatory homeostasis in hearing health. LMR may offer protective effects, particularly in specific subgroups. These findings suggest potential targets for HL treatment by regulating inflammation, warranting further investigation into their clinical application.

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慢性炎症和听力损失：国家队列中性别和BMI的关键生物标志物和亚组差异

背景听力损失（HL）显著影响世界范围内的生活质量和经济状况。慢性炎症被认为会影响听力，但在普通人群中与炎症相关指标的关系尚不清楚。方法本横断面研究分析了全国健康与营养检查调查（NHANES）六个周期（2005-2012年和2015-2018年）7231名成年人的数据。该研究使用多变量logistic回归模型检验了全身免疫炎症生物标志物（NLR、SII、PLR和LMR）与听觉阈值移位/HL之间的相关性。平滑曲线拟合可视化关联，对数似然比检验确定生物标志物效应阈值的存在，并辅以亚组分析。调整后，低频HL与ln转化NLR （OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.06-1.56, p = 0.0116）、ln-SII （OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.08-1.59, p = 0.0065）和ln-LMR （OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.60-0.91, p = 0.00043）存在显著相关性。对于高频HL， ln-SII （OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.05-1.48, p = 0.0105）和ln-LMR （OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.64-0.90, p = 0.007）的模式相似；然而，与ln-NLR的相关性没有达到统计学意义（OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.00-1.40, p = 0.0562）。NLR、SII与HL呈正相关，LMR呈负相关。与PLR无显著相关性。观察到剂量-反应关系，特别是LMR与HL所有分类频率之间以及SII与高频HL之间。亚组分析表明，NLR和SII是健康BMI男性发生HL的危险因素，而LMR在男性、老年人和糖尿病患者中更具保护作用。结论全身性炎症相关指标，尤其是SII，可预测高频和低频HL，强调炎症稳态在听力健康中的作用。LMR可能具有保护作用，特别是在特定的亚群中。这些发现提示了通过调节炎症治疗HL的潜在靶点，值得进一步研究其临床应用。

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来源期刊

Immunity, Inflammation and Disease Medicine-Immunology and Allergy

CiteScore

3.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

146

审稿时长

8 weeks

期刊介绍： Immunity, Inflammation and Disease is a peer-reviewed, open access, interdisciplinary journal providing rapid publication of research across the broad field of immunology. Immunity, Inflammation and Disease gives rapid consideration to papers in all areas of clinical and basic research. The journal is indexed in Medline and the Science Citation Index Expanded (part of Web of Science), among others. It welcomes original work that enhances the understanding of immunology in areas including: • cellular and molecular immunology • clinical immunology • allergy • immunochemistry • immunogenetics • immune signalling • immune development • imaging • mathematical modelling • autoimmunity • transplantation immunology • cancer immunology