Role of CASP7 polymorphisms in noise-induced hearing loss risk in Han Chinese population

Yanmei Ruan,Lili Huang,Zhi Wang,Keping Liu,Jinwei Zhang,Yuying Ma,Chunrong Gu,Wenfeng Zeng,Shiqi Mai

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-81391-5

Abstract

Genetic factors and gene-environment interaction may play an important role in the development of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). 191 cases and 191 controls were selected by case–control study. Among them, case groups were screened from workers exposed to noise in binaural high-frequency hearing thresholds greater than 25 dB (A). Workers with hearing thresholds ≤ 25 dB (A) in any binaural frequency band were selected to the control group, based on matching factors such as age, exposure time to noise, and operating position. The blood samples from two groups of workers were subjected to DNA extraction and SNP sequencing of CASP3 and CASP7 genes using the polymerase chain reaction ligase detection reaction method. Conditional logistic regression correction was used to analyze the genetic variation associated with susceptibility to NIHL. There was an association between rs2227310 and rs4353229 of the CASP7 gene and the risk of NIHL. Compared with the GG genotype, the CC genotype of rs2227310 reduced the risk of NIHL. Compared with CC genotype, the TT genotype of rs4353229 reduced the risk of NIHL. Workers carrying the rs2227310GG and rs4353229CC genotype had an increased risk of NIHL compared to workers without any high-risk genotype. There were additive interaction and multiplication interaction between CASP7rs2227310 and CNE, and the same interaction between CASP7rs4353229 and CNE. The interaction between the CASP7 gene and CNE significantly increased the risk of NIHL. The genetic polymorphisms of CASP7rs2227310GG and CASP7rs4353229CC were associated with an increased risk of NIHL in Han Chinese population and have the potential to act as biomarkers for noise-exposed workers.

Highlights

Genetic factors and gene-environment interaction may play an important role in the development of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). 191 cases and 191 controls were selected by case–control study
It has been shown that the genetic variation of CASP3 gene is related to the risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), and the joint effect of working time and CASP3 polymorphism may affect the risk of NIHL15
There were no significant differences in age, noise exposure time, noise exposure intensity, cumulative noise exposure [CNE, dB (A)·Year], and body mass index (BMI) between the case and the control group (P > 0.05) (The matching of case group and control group is shown in the Additional file 1: Table S2)

Summary

Introduction

Genetic factors and gene-environment interaction may play an important role in the development of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). 191 cases and 191 controls were selected by case–control study. Genetic factors and gene-environment interaction may play an important role in the development of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). Researchers have found in long-term animal experiments and population studies that even under the same noise exposure, the degree of hearing threshold displacement varies among different experimental animals and populations This shows that individuals with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) have different susceptibility[8]. We assume that the Caspase[7] genes may be associated with the risk of noise-induced hearing loss in the Chinese population. We selected 191 NIHL and 191 noise-exposed workers as the research subjects, and performed genetic analysis of 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in their CASP3 and CASP7 genes, and analyzed their interaction with environmental behavioral factors

Methods

Results

Conclusion