Effects of ABO blood group on otoacoustic emissions in young adults

Abstract

There are an increasing number of research studies analyzing the effects of blood group on susceptibility to certain diseases. However, little is yet known regarding the relationship between blood group and hearing. Higher risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) was linked to blood group O in one occupational health study. Based on this finding, a recent study of cochlear status was conducted with normal-hearing female participants representing equal numbers of the four blood groups in the ABO blood group system. Results indicated that ABO blood groups might be associated with different otoacoustic emission (OAE) characteristics, including the prevalence of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) and the amplitudes of transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). The study revealed that female participants with blood group O showed significantly lower amplitudes of DPOAEs at some frequencies and lower prevalence of SOAEs compared to participants with blood group B; and a trend of reduced TEOAE and DPOAE amplitudes in general compared to participants with non-O blood groups. Following on from this work, the present study examined possible effects of blood group on OAE status in males. A total of 60 clinically normal-hearing males aged between 18 to 26 years, with equal numbers of participants in each of the ABO blood groups, were recruited. The combined data of the male participants in this study and the female participants in the previous OAE study were analyzed to investigate effects of ABO blood group on male OAE parameters and the overall effects on a combined gender group. Blood group O participants exhibited significantly lower SOAE prevalence and reduced amplitudes of DPOAEs on average, and in the mid-frequency range, than participants with blood group B; and lower nonlinear and linear TEOAE amplitudes at certain frequencies when compared to participants with blood groups A and B. More statistically significant results were noted in left ears. A noticeable trend of lower TEOAE and DPOAE response amplitudes was also observed in participants with blood group O. These results are consistent with previous findings of reduced OAE responses in blood group O individuals. The present study supported the idea that blood group O individuals may be at increased risk of cochlear damage from noise exposure. Further investigation on the link between ABO blood group and auditory status, including effects of noise exposure on cochlear function, are needed. Possible effects of ABO blood group on other aspects of audition, such as hearing sensitivity, speech understanding and auditory processing may be worth investigating.