Diagnostic and predictive values of serum metabolic profiles in sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients

Abstract

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is an otologic emergency, and metabolic disturbance is involved in its pathogenesis. This study recruited 20 SSNHL patients and 20 healthy controls (HCs) and collected their serum samples. Serum metabolites were detected by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and metabolic profiles were analyzed. All patients were followed up for 3 months and categorized into recovery and non-recovery groups. The distinctive metabolites were assessed between two groups, and their predictive values for hearing recovery were evaluated. Analysis results revealed that SSNHL patients exhibited significantly characteristic metabolite signatures compared to HCs. The top 10 differential metabolites were further analyzed, and most of them showed potential diagnostic values based on receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. Finally, 14 SSNHL patients were divided into the recovery group, and six patients were included in the non-recovery group. Twelve distinctive metabolites were observed between the two groups, and ROC curves demonstrated that N4-acetylcytidine, p-phenylenediamine, sphingosine, glycero-3-phosphocholine, and nonadecanoic acid presented good predictabilities in the hearing recovery. Multivariate analysis results demonstrated that serum N4-Acetylcytidine, sphingosine and nonadecanoic acid levels were associated with hearing recovery in SSNHL patients. Our results identified that SSNHL patients exhibited distinctive serum metabolomics signatures, and several serum biomarkers were proved to be potential in predicting hearing recovery. The discriminative metabolites might contribute to illustrating the mechanisms of SSNHL and provide possible clues for its treatments.

The Inheritance of Hearing Loss and Deafness: A Historical Perspective

“…Metabolomics, reflecting both genetic traits and environmental influences, plays a crucial role in understanding various forms of hearing impairment [97]. Recent studies have reported consistent data on the predictive role of serum metabolic profiles in sudden hearing loss [98], noise-induced hearing loss [99], and the identification of markers for ototoxicity [97,100]. Metabolomic investigations may pave the way for improved diagnostic strategies, personalized interventions, and targeted treatments, ultimately enhancing the clinical management of individuals affected by different causes of hearing loss [101,102].…”

A Systematic Review on Metabolomics Analysis in Hearing Impairment: Is It a Possible Tool in Understanding Auditory Pathologies?

“…The main characteristics of the studies carried out in humans are summarized in Table 1. Of the 13 studies included, 8 were performed on urine samples [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]; 1 on perilymph [38], 2 on plasma [39,40] and 2 on serum [41,42]. The most commonly used technique for metabolomic profiling was liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS); while only one study was performed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and two by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).…”

“…Wang et al [42] investigated sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and its metabolic implications. The research included 20 SSNHL patients and 20 healthy controls (HCs), with serum samples collected for analysis.…”

“…Undoubtedly, these samples boast a wealth of information in terms of metabolomics, yet their collection merely necessitates non-invasive or minimally invasive procedures [63,64]. Metabolomic analyses of serum samples from patients with SSNHL have shed light on significant disturbances in fatty acid metabolism and its potential impact on hearing prognosis [42]. Indeed, the inner ear, being a highly energy-demanding organ, undergoes enhanced fatty acid oxidation when glucose metabolism falls short in meeting its energy requirements.…”

“…To date metabolomics analysis on plasma, urine, perilymph samples and in vitro cells derived from HL patients and animals has identified disease-specific metabolic pathways and metabolites. Most of the included metabolomic studies investigated NIHL [36,39,40,45,46,[48][49][50][51] while other studies have investigated SSNHL [34,42] and HL related to aging [35,41] and ototoxic drugs [30,33,47]. Therefore, currently not all deafness endophenotypes are been equally characterized according to metabolic signature, for better understanding of the different pathways involved in HL.…”