Apolipoprotein E alleles and sensorineural hearing loss.

The purpose of this paper is to determine if a relationship exists between APOE alleles and nonsyndromic, sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in adults. APOE genotype was determined on DNA obtained from a sample of 89 subjects with nonsyndromic, adult onset SNHL. Median age was 64 years old, and 51 (57%) were males. Allele frequencies in the study population were compared to those in the general population. Subjects were divided into two groups, one by severity of hearing loss and another by severity of impairment of word recognition. Each group was stratified by severity, and allele frequencies were compared to the general population. The study found that the APOE allele epsilon 4 was less prevalent in the study population with SNHL than in the general population. No relationship was found between the epsilon 4 allele and severity of hearing loss or severity of impairment of word recognition. The study revealed that the APOE epsilon 4 allele was under-represented in the study sample as compared to the general population. Future studies associating the epsilon 4 allele with SNHL need to be population-based, longitudinal, or done in younger subjects.