Öztan Gözde, İşsever Halim, Kurt Özlem Kar, Canbaz Sevgi, Oğuz Fatma, İşsever Tuğçe, Öztürk Özmen
Department of Medical Biology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Topkapı, 34093 Istanbul, Turkey.
Department of Public Health, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Topkapı, 34093 Istanbul, Turkey.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jul 10;26(14):6623. doi: 10.3390/ijms26146623.
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a significant occupational health issue, characterized by permanent damage to the cochlea due to prolonged exposure to high-intensity noise. Circulating microRNAs (c-miRNAs) have emerged as promising non-invasive indicators of inner ear pathology and potential modulators of cellular stress responses. Nevertheless, their specific roles in NIHL remain inadequately characterized. This study evaluated miRNA expression in the peripheral blood of individuals with bilateral NIHL ( = 12) and matched healthy controls ( = 6) using GeneChip miRNA 4.0 arrays. The Transcriptome Analysis Console software was used for differential expression analysis, and bioinformatic predictions of gene targets and pathway enrichment were performed using TargetScan (version 8.0) and the Enrichr tool. Among the 72 differentially expressed miRNAs (FDR < 0.05), hsa-miR-486-2, hsa-miR-664b-3p, hsa-miR-4485, hsa-miR-501, and hsa-miR-663b were notably upregulated, while hsa-miR-6723, hsa-miR-194-2, hsa-miR-668-5p, hsa-miR-4722-3p, and hsa-miR-4716 showed significant downregulation. Enrichment analyses indicated involvement in apoptosis regulation, mitochondrial stability, and cell cycle control. Principal component analysis (PCA) and clustering methods revealed clear molecular distinctions between the patient and control groups. The observed alterations in c-miRNA profiles highlight their relevance to NIHL-related cellular stress and degeneration. These findings support their utility as candidate biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis, warranting further validation in functional and longitudinal studies.
噪声性听力损失（NIHL）是一个重大的职业健康问题，其特征是由于长期暴露于高强度噪声而导致耳蜗永久性损伤。循环微RNA（c-miRNAs）已成为内耳病理学有前景的非侵入性指标以及细胞应激反应的潜在调节因子。然而，它们在NIHL中的具体作用仍未得到充分表征。本研究使用基因芯片miRNA 4.0阵列评估了双侧NIHL患者（n = 12）和匹配的健康对照者（n = 6）外周血中的miRNA表达。使用转录组分析控制台软件进行差异表达分析，并使用TargetScan（8.0版）和Enrichr工具对基因靶点和通路富集进行生物信息学预测。在72个差异表达的miRNA（FDR < 0.05）中，hsa-miR-486-2、hsa-miR-664b-3p、hsa-miR-4485、hsa-miR-501和hsa-miR-663b显著上调，而hsa-miR-6723、hsa-miR-194-2、hsa-miR-668-5p、hsa-miR-4722-3p和hsa-miR-4716则显著下调。富集分析表明其参与细胞凋亡调控、线粒体稳定性和细胞周期控制。主成分分析（PCA）和聚类方法揭示了患者组和对照组之间明显的分子差异。观察到的c-miRNA谱变化凸显了它们与NIHL相关细胞应激和退变的相关性。这些发现支持了它们作为诊断和预后候选生物标志物的效用，值得在功能和纵向研究中进一步验证。
