Lower expression of prestin and MYO7A correlates with menopause-associated hearing loss

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to test the hearing function and to investigate the effect of estrogen on prestin and MYO7A expression in hair cells of the cochlea in ovariectomized rats.

Study design: We compared the hearing function systematically in normal female Sprague–Dawley rats and in ovariectomized rats with or without exogenous β-estradiol administration by auditory brainstem response measurements and distortion product otoacoustic emissions. In addition, a correlation analysis between the functional parameters and cochlear histology was carried out.

Results: There was a significant auditory threshold shift in the high-frequency range in the ovariectomized rats. Prestin and MYO7A expression was lowered in the cochlea of ovariectomized rats. These effects could be recovered by subcutaneous administration of β-estradiol.

Conclusion: Low estrogen levels may lead to reduced expression of prestin and MYO7A in cochlea, leading to a menopause-related hearing loss.

摘要

目的：本研究旨在检测切除卵巢大鼠的听力功能, 探讨雌激素对切除卵巢大鼠耳蜗毛细胞prestin蛋白和MYO7A表达的影响。

研究设计：我们通过听觉脑干反应测量和畸变产物耳声发射检查, 系统地比较了正常雌性斯普拉格-杜勒大鼠与应用外源性β-雌二醇及不应用外源性β-雌二醇的切除卵巢的大鼠的听力功能。此外, 还对功能参数与耳蜗组织学进行了相关性分析。

结果：切除卵巢大鼠的听觉阈值在高频范围内有明显的变化。切除卵巢大鼠耳蜗中Prestin蛋白和MYO7A蛋白的表达降低。这些效果可以通过皮下注射β-雌二醇来恢复。

结论：低雌激素水平可能导致耳蜗中prestin蛋白和MYO7A蛋白的表达减少, 导致与更年期相关的听力损失。

Keywords:

• Hearing loss
• menopause
• estrogen
• prestin
• MYO7A

Acknowledgements

The authors’ special thanks are due to Prof. Lihua Qin (Peking University Health Science Centre), for help with manuscript preparation.

Conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Source of funding

This work was supported by Excellent Youth Foundation of Peking University Ninth School of Clinical Medicine [2016-q26]; Research Funding Program of Beijing Municipal Administration [PX2018031]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [81571399].