Think of telomeres as the protective caps at the end of your chromosomes, like the tips of shoelaces that prevent them from unraveling. It turns out that the length of these telomeres might not only be related to age-related diseases, but also to our sense of hearing as adults! A new study delved into this fascinating connection by examining the associations between telomere length and different levels of hearing, such as low-, speech-, and high-frequency thresholds. The study included over 2,000 adults from the United States and used a method called quantitative polymerase chain reaction to measure telomere length. Interestingly, there seemed to be a non-linear relationship between telomere length and high-frequency hearing thresholds. Telomeres that reached a certain turning point were inversely related to high-frequency hearing loss. However, once telomeres surpassed that turning point, their length was no longer associated with these high-frequency threshold shifts. This finding suggests that telomeres may play a unique role in our ability to hear higher frequencies. To learn more about this fascinating research, be sure to check out the full article!

BackgroundAlthough telomere length has a significant relationship with various age-related diseases, studies on its relationship with hearing status in adults are limited and equivocal. This study investigated the associations between mean telomere length (MTL) and low-, speech-, and high-frequency hearing threshold shifts of adults in the United States.MethodsA total of 2,027 adults, aged 20-69 years, from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES, 1999–2002) were included in the analytic sample. The quantitative polymerase chain reaction method was used for the MTL assay, and MTL was expressed using the telomere-to-single copy gene (T/S) ratio. Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average (PTA) for the better ear at ≥ 20 dB HL at frequencies 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses and smooth curve fittings were conducted to evaluate the correlation between MTL and low-, speech-, and high-frequency hearing levels.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 40.60 ± 12.76 years, including 952 men (weighted, 48.67%) and 303 (weighted, 12.88%) participants with hearing loss. After adjusting for potential confounders in the multivariate linear regression model, the relationship between MTL and hearing thresholds was not statistically significant. Smooth curve fittings indicated a non-linear relationship between MTL and high-frequency PTA hearing threshold shifts. MTL was inversely related to high-frequency PTA to the turning point (T/S ratio = 0.82) (adjusted β−21.45, 95% CI −37.28, −5.62; P = 0.008). When the T/S ratio exceeded0.82, MTL was not associated with high-frequency PTA (adjusted β0.18, 95% CI −2.21, 2.57; P = 0.8809).ConclusionOur findings revealed that MTL was associated with high-frequency PTA hearing threshold shifts of adults in the United States in a non-linear manner.

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