Title : Early diagnosis of Noise Induced Hearing loss in mining population
Abstract:
Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is one of the most leading occupational disease which contributes to social isolation and leads to degraded quality of life. Worldwide 16% of the disabling Hearing loss (HL) in adult is due to excessive exposure to noise in the workplace. Noise exposure is considered as one of the most persistent health hazards in mining occupation. Workers who are exposed to high level of noise, more than ≥85dB (A) are prone to onset of NIHL. Noise damages key molecules such as proteins present in the micro-machinery of the ear which are required for the mechanoelectric transduction of sound waves. Exposure to high level of noise causes hearing impairment due to both mechanical and metabolicexhaustion in cochlea.
NIHL can be detected by various methods of which audiometry is considered as gold standard technique but the limitation of this technique is that it can detect the HL when someone has already developed NIHL. It can’t be used for onset and early diagnosis of NIHL. Hence there is a requirement of such methods which could detect the NIHL at early stages of its onset. Biomarker study using proteomics could be helpful for this analysis.
Cochlea is the major organ responsible for resilience of sound. There are key cochlear proteins present in TM, IHCs, OHCs and Stereocilia which gets damage by impulse noise. Thus, the proteins that are up and down regulated during noise exposure should be analysed to elucidate the pathogenesis of NIHL.
The potential biomarkers along with clinical assessments correlation may be utilized for achieving effective diagnosis of disease. Comprehensive understanding of inner ear proteome will accelerate the biomarker study required for diagnosis of NIHL and its early detection and prevention of its onset to exposed workers.
