Inflammation is associated with a worsening of presbycusis: Evidence from the MRC national study of hearing

Abstract

Objective: Inflammaging, a state of chronic inflammation in the elderly, is now thought to be a key element of the ageing process and contributor to age-related disease. In a previously published study, we identified a significant association between inflammation levels and severity of presbycusis among individuals aged 63 to 73 (ʽyounger old”) within an available audiometric range 0.5 to 4 kHz. Our aim was to see if this association would be identified among participants in the MRC national study of hearing, and whether the strength of the association would increase with greater age, or for very low or very high audiometric frequencies. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of cohort data. Study sample: Three hundred and sixty community-dwelling adults age 60 years and over, representing all those with white blood cell count and audiometric data available. Results: A significant independent association between (higher) WBC and (worse) hearing level was identified. This effect increased with age. The strongest association was among those over 75, for whom average hearing threshold levels among those with lower WBC was 17 dB better than those with higher WBC. Conclusions: The current findings support an association between inflammaging (a condition potentially amenable to pharmacological treatment or lifestyle management) and presbycusis.

Key Words::

• Presbycusis
• age-related hearing loss
• inflammation
• bio-markers

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Professors Avan Aihie Sayer and Cyrus Cooper, along with the rest of the team at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, Southampton University NHS Hospitals Trust, for access to the HAS data and main contribution to the earlier study. We would also like to thank Professors Adrian Davis and Mark Lutman for access to the MRC national study of hearing data and advice on its analysis.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.