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Epidemiological analysis of the association between hearing and barium in humans

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 26, pages 488–493 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Our previous study experimentally showed barium (Ba)-mediated hearing loss in mice. To our knowledge, however, it remains unknown whether Ba affects hearing in humans. This epidemiological study aimed at investigating ototoxicity of Ba in humans. Associations of Ba levels in hair, toenails and urine with hearing levels (1, 4, 8 and 12 kHz) were analyzed in 145 Bangladeshi subjects. Binary logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and smoking showed that Ba levels in hair had significant associations with hearing loss at 8 kHz (OR=4.75; 95% CI: 1.44, 17.68) and 12 kHz (OR=15.48; 95% CI: 4.04, 79.45). Ba levels in toenails were also associated with hearing loss at 8 kHz (OR=3.20; 95% CI: 1.35, 7.85) and 12 kHz (OR=3.63; 95% CI: 1.58, 8.55), whereas there was no correlation between Ba level in urinary samples and hearing. There was a significant correlation between hearing loss and Ba levels in hair and toenails in the model adjusted with arsenic levels as the confounder. In conclusion, this study suggested that Ba levels could be a new risk factor for hearing loss, especially at high frequencies of 8 and 12 kHz, in humans.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) (No. 15H01743 and 15H02588), (B) (No. 24390157 and 24406002) and (C) (No. 25460178, 25340052, 25461717), Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research (No. 23650241 and No. 26670525), Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (No. 24108001) and COE Project for Private Universities (Nutritional Health Science Research Center; No. S1201007) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); the Mitsubishi Foundation; Toyoaki Scholarship Foundation; the Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Environment Fund; Aichi Health Promotion Foundation, Foundation from Center for Advanced Medical and Clinical Research Nagoya University Hospital and AEON Environmental Foundation.

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  1. Nobutaka Ohgami and Yuji Mitsumatsu: These authors equally contributed to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan

    Nobutaka Ohgami, Yuji Mitsumatsu, Xiang Li, Machiko Iida, Ichiro Yajima & Masashi Kato

  2. Nutritional Health Science Research Center, Chubu University, Matsumoto, Kasugai, Aichi, Japan

    Nobutaka Ohgami & Machiko Iida

  3. Voluntary Body for International Health Care in Universities, Nagoya, Japan

    Nobutaka Ohgami, Machiko Iida, Ichiro Yajima, Shoko Ohnuma & Masashi Kato

  4. Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Nazmul Ahsan & Anwarul Azim Akhand

  5. Department of Preventive Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan

    Mariko Naito & Kenji Wakai

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  1. Nobutaka Ohgami
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Correspondence to Masashi Kato.

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Ohgami, N., Mitsumatsu, Y., Ahsan, N. et al. Epidemiological analysis of the association between hearing and barium in humans. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 26, 488–493 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.62

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