Home › Research › Risk factors
Sensorineural hearing loss may lead to dementia-related pathological changes in hippocampal neurons
Yilin Shen, Haixia Hu, Cui Fan, Quan Wang, Tianyuan Zou, Bin Ye, Mingliang Xiang. Neurobiology of disease, 2021-05-31
Topic: Inflammation, microglia and astrocytes
Presbycusis contributes to cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. However, most research in this area involves clinical observations and statistical modeling, and few studies have examined the relationship between hearing loss and the molecular changes that lead to cognitive dysfunction. The present study investigated whether hearing loss contributes to dementia in the absence of aging and noise using a mouse model of severe bilateral hearing loss induced by kanamycin (1000 mg/kg) and furosemide (400 mg/kg). Immunohistochemistry, silver staining, immunofluorescence analysis, and Western blotting were used to observe pathological changes in different regions of the hippocampus in animals with hearing loss. Changes in the cognitive function of animals with hearing loss were assessed using the Morris water maze test. The results showed that neurons began to degenerate 60 days after hearing loss, and this degeneration was accompanied by structural disorganization and decreased neurogenesis. The level of phosphorylated tau increased over time. Increases in escape latency and distance traveled during the training phase of the Morris water maze test were observed 90 days after hearing loss. Activated microglia and astrocytes with increased levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were detected in the hippocampus. These results suggest that hearing loss alone causes neuronal degeneration, inhibition of neurogenesis, increased tau protein phosphorylation, and increased neuroinflammation in the hippocampus. Early intervention in individuals with hearing loss may reduce the risk of cognitive decline.
Key findings
- The results showed that neurons began to degenerate 60 days after hearing loss, and this degeneration was accompanied by structural disorganization and decreased neurogenesis.
- These results suggest that hearing loss alone causes neuronal degeneration, inhibition of neurogenesis, increased tau protein phosphorylation, and increased neuroinflammation in the hippocampus.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Risk factors, ranked →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 41/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 23 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 41 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neurobiology of disease) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 34082124) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 23 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 23 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 41 out of 100. |
| Total | 41 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Shen, Y., Hu, H., Fan, C., Wang, Q., Zou, T., Ye, B., et al. (2021). Sensorineural hearing loss may lead to dementia-related pathological changes in hippocampal neurons. Neurobiology of disease. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2021.105408
Vancouver
Shen Y, Hu H, Fan C, Wang Q, Zou T, Ye B, et al. Sensorineural hearing loss may lead to dementia-related pathological changes in hippocampal neurons. Neurobiology of disease. 2021. doi:10.1016/j.nbd.2021.105408. PMID: 34082124.
BibTeX
@article{shen2021-34082124,
author = {Shen, Yilin and Hu, Haixia and Fan, Cui and Wang, Quan and Zou, Tianyuan and Ye, Bin and Xiang, Mingliang},
title = {{Sensorineural hearing loss may lead to dementia-related pathological changes in hippocampal neurons}},
journal = {Neurobiology of disease},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1016/j.nbd.2021.105408},
pmid = {34082124},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2021.105408}
}
Related studies in Risk factors
Also tagged “hearing”
118 studies in the library carry the topic tag “hearing”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 118 tagged studies.