Mid-Frequency Hearing Loss Is Characteristic Clinical Feature of OTOA-Associated Hearing Loss

The OTOA gene (Locus: DFNB22) is reported to be one of the causative genes for non-syndromic autosomal recessive hearing loss. The copy number variations (CNVs) identified in this gene are also known to cause hearing loss, but have not been identified in Japanese patients with hearing loss. Furthermore, the clinical features of OTOA-associated hearing loss have not yet been clarified. In this study, we performed CNV analyses of a large Japanese hearing loss cohort, and identified CNVs in 234 of 2262 (10.3%, 234/2262) patients with autosomal recessive hearing loss. Among the identified CNVs, OTOA gene-related CNVs were the second most frequent (0.6%, 14/2262). Among the 14 cases, 2 individuals carried OTOA homozygous deletions, 4 carried heterozygous deletions with single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in another allele. Additionally, 1 individual with homozygous SNVs in the OTOA gene was also identified. Finally, we identified 7 probands with OTOA-associated hearing loss, so that its prevalence in Japanese patients with autosomal recessive hearing loss was calculated to be 0.3% (7/2262). As novel clinical features identified in this study, the audiometric configurations of patients with OTOA-associated hearing loss were found to be mid-frequency. This is the first study focused on the detailed clinical features of hearing loss caused by this gene mutation and/or gene deletion.