© 1991 S. Karger AG, Basel 0301-1569/91 /0535-0270S 2.75/0
ORL 1991;53:270-272
Red Cell Basic Ferritin Concentration in Sensorineural Hearing Loss Ai-Hua Sun3, Zheng-Min Wangb, Shi-Zhi Xiao3, Zhao-Ji L i3, Jin-Ying L ic, Ling-Shan Kongd “Department of Otolaryngology, Changhai Hospital; bShanghai Eye Ear Nose and Throat Hospital; Shanghai Medical University; ‘ Red Cell Enzyme Research Laboratory; d Department of Isotopy, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, China
Key Words. Red cell basic ferritin • Relative iron deficiency • Sensorineural hearing loss Abstract. Red cell basic ferritin (RCBF) was measured in 62 healthy subjects with normal hearing and 224 patients with different kinds of sensorineural hearing loss, compared with serum ferritin, haemoglobin, serum iron and circadian variation in the serum iron levels. The results showed that the RCBF concentrations in most kinds of sensorineural hearing loss were significantly lower than those in normal hearing status. It is conceivable that the RCBF assay can be used to evaluate the adequacy of iron stores that are useful in times of urgent iron needs and to diagnose relative iron deficiency in those patients with some other normal laboratory assays related to iron metab olism.
It has recently been shown that red cell basic ferritin (RCBF) concentration was closely related to the body iron status. RCBF can accurately reflect the abnormal body iron metabolism both in iron deficiency and iron overload [1], We have previously reported that iron deficiency may cause sensorineural hearing loss, or constitute the patho logic basis for cochlear deafness [2-4], The present study is a continuation of our attempts to elucidate relation between iron deficiency and hearing loss. In order to obtain more information about iron metabolism in sen sorineural hearing loss, RCBF was measured in normal subjects and patients with different kinds of sensorineu ral hearing loss, compared with serum ferritin (SF), hae moglobin (Hb), serum iron (SI) and circadian variation in the serum iron level (CVSIL).
Subjects and Methods Subjects Blood samples obtained from 62 healthy subjects with normal hearing (41 males and 21 females, aged between 11 months and 73 years) and 224 patients with sensorineural hearing loss (148 males
and 76 females, aged between 7 months and 77 years), including 58 patients with idiopathic sudden hearing loss (ISHL), 26 patients with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), 32 patients with druginduced hearing loss (DIHL), 22 patients with senile hearing loss (SHL), 7 patients with hereditary sensorineural hearing loss (HSHL), 14 patients with Meniere’s disease (M’sD) and 65 patients with sensorineural hearing loss of unknown origin (SHLUO). There was no statistical difference in the distributions of sex and age between the normal control group and the hearing loss groups. Hearing thresholds of normal subjects were assessed by puretone audiometry. Normal limits of hearing threshold level were based on ISO-1964 reference standard. All the patients with senso rineural hearing loss were examined by pure-tone audiometry, im pedance measurement and auditory brainstem response. Laboratory Methods Pure red cell suspensions were prepared by means of the method of Beutler et al. (5). The eluted red cells were washed three times by centrifugation and resuspended in 1 ml of Hepes-bufTered 0.9% saline (pH 7.4) before storage a t - 20 °C to await assay. Immediately prior to assay, the samples were thawed, diluted 1:1 with distilled water, refrozen and thawed to complete cell lysis. Stroma were removed from red cell lysates by centrifugation, and ferritin concen tration was then determined by the method of Cazzola et al. [6]. The RBCF concentration was expressed altograms (1 ag = 10“18 g)/cell. SF was assayed using a radioimmunoassay based on antibodies against human spleen ferritin. Hb concentration was measured by the cyanmethaemoglobin method [7], SI content and CVSIL were deter mined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry [8]. The statistical method employed for the analysis of these data was Student’s t test.
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Introduction
Red Cell Ferritin and Hearing Loss
271
Table 1. Characterizations of the RBCF, SF, Hb, SI and CVSIL values in different kinds of sensorineural hearing loss (mean±SD) Subjects
n
Hb, g/1
RCBF, ag/cell
SF, nmol/1
SI, nmol/1
CVSIL, pmol/1
Normal
62
140.9 ±9.5
26.82 ±3.47
4.65 ±3.07
26.71 ±4.01
26.55 ± 3.12/22.23 ± 2.02
ISHL
58
111.7 ± 31.6a
10.81 ±6.80a
1.56 ± 1.17a
19.11 ±4.85a
18.99 ± 4.80/ 19.01 ±2.22a
NIHL
26
120.1 ±26.5b
12.31 ±2.20a
4.78 ±3.23
24.52 ± 3.68
24.69 ± 3.55/23.32 ±2.13
DIHL
32
108.9 ± 38. l a
18.52 ± 3.3 l a
1.96 ± 1.45a
30.41 ±3.93b
31.11 ± 5.02/26.00 ±4.1 l b
SHL
22
109.0±42.4a
20.49 ±6.38a
1.83 ± 0.92a
22.84 ±4.09b
22.00 ± 2.25/22.14± 1.92b
HSHL
7
132.6 ±13.4
28.29±2.74
5.21 ±2.97
26.44 ±2.74
27.01 ± 3.37/22.10 ± 2.42
M’sD
14
121.2 ± 17.5b
10.41 ±3.50a
2.11 ±0.84a
24.10 ± 3.09
23.83±2.16/20.02 ± 1.82
SHLUO
65
106.3 ± 48.7a
22.83 ± 8.87b
2.27 ± 1.76a
19.13 ± 1.99a
19.15 ± 1.71/ 22.93 ± 3.36a
Significantly different (p
ORL 1991;53:270-272
Red Cell Basic Ferritin Concentration in Sensorineural Hearing Loss Ai-Hua Sun3, Zheng-Min Wangb, Shi-Zhi Xiao3, Zhao-Ji L i3, Jin-Ying L ic, Ling-Shan Kongd “Department of Otolaryngology, Changhai Hospital; bShanghai Eye Ear Nose and Throat Hospital; Shanghai Medical University; ‘ Red Cell Enzyme Research Laboratory; d Department of Isotopy, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, China
Key Words. Red cell basic ferritin • Relative iron deficiency • Sensorineural hearing loss Abstract. Red cell basic ferritin (RCBF) was measured in 62 healthy subjects with normal hearing and 224 patients with different kinds of sensorineural hearing loss, compared with serum ferritin, haemoglobin, serum iron and circadian variation in the serum iron levels. The results showed that the RCBF concentrations in most kinds of sensorineural hearing loss were significantly lower than those in normal hearing status. It is conceivable that the RCBF assay can be used to evaluate the adequacy of iron stores that are useful in times of urgent iron needs and to diagnose relative iron deficiency in those patients with some other normal laboratory assays related to iron metab olism.
It has recently been shown that red cell basic ferritin (RCBF) concentration was closely related to the body iron status. RCBF can accurately reflect the abnormal body iron metabolism both in iron deficiency and iron overload [1], We have previously reported that iron deficiency may cause sensorineural hearing loss, or constitute the patho logic basis for cochlear deafness [2-4], The present study is a continuation of our attempts to elucidate relation between iron deficiency and hearing loss. In order to obtain more information about iron metabolism in sen sorineural hearing loss, RCBF was measured in normal subjects and patients with different kinds of sensorineu ral hearing loss, compared with serum ferritin (SF), hae moglobin (Hb), serum iron (SI) and circadian variation in the serum iron level (CVSIL).
Subjects and Methods Subjects Blood samples obtained from 62 healthy subjects with normal hearing (41 males and 21 females, aged between 11 months and 73 years) and 224 patients with sensorineural hearing loss (148 males
and 76 females, aged between 7 months and 77 years), including 58 patients with idiopathic sudden hearing loss (ISHL), 26 patients with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), 32 patients with druginduced hearing loss (DIHL), 22 patients with senile hearing loss (SHL), 7 patients with hereditary sensorineural hearing loss (HSHL), 14 patients with Meniere’s disease (M’sD) and 65 patients with sensorineural hearing loss of unknown origin (SHLUO). There was no statistical difference in the distributions of sex and age between the normal control group and the hearing loss groups. Hearing thresholds of normal subjects were assessed by puretone audiometry. Normal limits of hearing threshold level were based on ISO-1964 reference standard. All the patients with senso rineural hearing loss were examined by pure-tone audiometry, im pedance measurement and auditory brainstem response. Laboratory Methods Pure red cell suspensions were prepared by means of the method of Beutler et al. (5). The eluted red cells were washed three times by centrifugation and resuspended in 1 ml of Hepes-bufTered 0.9% saline (pH 7.4) before storage a t - 20 °C to await assay. Immediately prior to assay, the samples were thawed, diluted 1:1 with distilled water, refrozen and thawed to complete cell lysis. Stroma were removed from red cell lysates by centrifugation, and ferritin concen tration was then determined by the method of Cazzola et al. [6]. The RBCF concentration was expressed altograms (1 ag = 10“18 g)/cell. SF was assayed using a radioimmunoassay based on antibodies against human spleen ferritin. Hb concentration was measured by the cyanmethaemoglobin method [7], SI content and CVSIL were deter mined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry [8]. The statistical method employed for the analysis of these data was Student’s t test.
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Introduction
Red Cell Ferritin and Hearing Loss
271
Table 1. Characterizations of the RBCF, SF, Hb, SI and CVSIL values in different kinds of sensorineural hearing loss (mean±SD) Subjects
n
Hb, g/1
RCBF, ag/cell
SF, nmol/1
SI, nmol/1
CVSIL, pmol/1
Normal
62
140.9 ±9.5
26.82 ±3.47
4.65 ±3.07
26.71 ±4.01
26.55 ± 3.12/22.23 ± 2.02
ISHL
58
111.7 ± 31.6a
10.81 ±6.80a
1.56 ± 1.17a
19.11 ±4.85a
18.99 ± 4.80/ 19.01 ±2.22a
NIHL
26
120.1 ±26.5b
12.31 ±2.20a
4.78 ±3.23
24.52 ± 3.68
24.69 ± 3.55/23.32 ±2.13
DIHL
32
108.9 ± 38. l a
18.52 ± 3.3 l a
1.96 ± 1.45a
30.41 ±3.93b
31.11 ± 5.02/26.00 ±4.1 l b
SHL
22
109.0±42.4a
20.49 ±6.38a
1.83 ± 0.92a
22.84 ±4.09b
22.00 ± 2.25/22.14± 1.92b
HSHL
7
132.6 ±13.4
28.29±2.74
5.21 ±2.97
26.44 ±2.74
27.01 ± 3.37/22.10 ± 2.42
M’sD
14
121.2 ± 17.5b
10.41 ±3.50a
2.11 ±0.84a
24.10 ± 3.09
23.83±2.16/20.02 ± 1.82
SHLUO
65
106.3 ± 48.7a
22.83 ± 8.87b
2.27 ± 1.76a
19.13 ± 1.99a
19.15 ± 1.71/ 22.93 ± 3.36a
Significantly different (p
