Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
Volume 26, Issue 5, Pages 488-493Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/jes.2015.62
Keywords
barium; hair; hearing loss; ICP-MS; ototoxicity; toenail
Funding
- COE Project for Private Universities (Nutritional Health Science Research Center) from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) [S1201007]
- Mitsubishi Foundation
- Toyoaki Scholarship Foundation
- Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Environment Fund
- Aichi Health Promotion Foundation
- Foundation from Center for Advanced Medical and Clinical Research Nagoya University Hospital
- AEON Environmental Foundation
- [15H01743]
- [15H02588]
- [24390157]
- [24406002]
- [25460178]
- [25340052]
- [25461717]
- [23650241]
- [26670525]
- [24108001]
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [16K08343, 25460178, 15H02588] Funding Source: KAKEN
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Our previous study experimentally showed barium (Ba)-mediated hearing loss in mice. To our knowledge, however, it remains unknown whether Ba affects hearing in humans. This epidemiological study aimed at investigating ototoxicity of Ba in humans. Associations of Ba levels in hair, toenails and urine with hearing levels (1, 4, 8 and 12 kHz) were analyzed in 145 Bangladeshi subjects. Binary logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and smoking showed that Ba levels in hair had significant associations with hearing loss at 8 kHz (OR = 4.75; 95% CI: 1.44, 17.68) and 12 kHz (OR = 15.48; 95% CI: 4.04, 79.45). Ba levels in toenails were also associated with hearing loss at 8 kHz (OR = 3.20; 95% CI: 1.35, 7.85) and 12 kHz (OR = 3.63; 95% CI: 1.58, 8.55), whereas there was no correlation between Ba level in urinary samples and hearing. There was a significant correlation between hearing loss and Ba levels in hair and toenails in the model adjusted with arsenic levels as the confounder. In conclusion, this study suggested that Ba levels could be a new risk factor for hearing loss, especially at high frequencies of 8 and 12 kHz, in humans.
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