Ischemia-modified albumin levels in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to investigate whether serum levels of ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) are associated with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). Patients and Methods: Between December 2015 and June 2017, a total of 17 patients (9 males, 8 females; mean age 49.4±18.0 years; range, 24 to 88 years) with ISSNHL and 24 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals (12 males, 12 females; mean age 44.5±13.3 years; range, 30 to 81 years) as the control group were included in the study. All patients underwent audiometric examination at the time of admission immediately before the beginning of the treatment and weekly after treatment initiation until one month using the Interacoustics AC40 audiometer. Serum IMA levels were evaluated using blood samples from the antecubital vein of both patient and control groups. The samples were centrifuged to separate the serum from the cells. Albumin cobalt binding test was used for IMA measurement. Results: The mean IMA level was 0.374±0.081 absorbance units (ABSU) (range, 0.205 to 0.536) in the study group at the time of diagnosis, 0.358±0.051 ABSU (range, 0.297 to 0.466) in the post-treatment period, at least four weeks after onset, and 0.358±0.053 ABSU (range, 0.281 to 0.434) in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference between the patient and control groups. The IMA levels of the patients with ISSNHL in the post-treatment period were lower than the onset of illness, although this difference was not statically significant (0.440). Conclusion: Our study results demonstrated that serum IMA levels in the patients with ISSNHL did not differ from the control group.