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Updated: Jun 1, 2025
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Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Published on: January 25, 2016
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Neurovascular coupling dysfunction associated with inflammatory factors in sudden sensorineural hearing loss
Chengyan Feng1, Shuo Li2, Chunhua Xing2
1Department of Radiology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China; Department of Radiology, Nanjing Tongren Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Neuroscience
|January 18, 2025
Summary
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) shows altered neurovascular coupling (NVC), particularly in auditory and language centers. These NVC changes correlate with inflammatory markers, offering new insights into SSNHL mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Radiology
- Otolaryngology
Background:
- The neuropathologic mechanisms underlying sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) remain largely unknown.
- Neurovascular coupling (NVC), the relationship between neuronal activity and blood flow, is critical for brain function.
- Investigating NVC alterations may elucidate SSNHL pathogenesis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate alterations in neurovascular coupling (NVC) in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL).
- To explore the association between NVC abnormalities and hematologic inflammatory factors in SSNHL patients.
Main Methods:
- Utilized advanced neuroimaging techniques, including amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), degree centrality (DC), and arterial spin labeling (ASL) for cerebral blood flow (CBF) calculation.
- Compared NVC indices (CBF-ALFF, CBF-fALFF, CBF-ReHo, CBF-DC) and NVC ratio between 48 SSNHL patients and 54 healthy controls (HC).
- Performed correlation analyses between global and regional NVC metrics and various inflammatory/hematologic parameters (e.g., PLR, NLR, SII, PLT, Lym).
Main Results:
- Global NVC was significantly reduced in SSNHL patients compared to HC, with the exception of CBF-ALFF.
- Regional NVC abnormalities were predominantly observed in auditory, sensorimotor language centers, and the limbic system of SSNHL patients.
- NVC metrics at both global and regional levels showed significant correlations with inflammatory markers such as platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic immunoinflammatory index (SII), platelet count (PLT), and lymphocyte count (Lym).
Conclusions:
- Findings suggest that altered neurovascular coupling is a key feature in the neuropathology of SSNHL.
- The correlation of NVC metrics with inflammatory factors provides potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for SSNHL.
- This study offers novel perspectives on the underlying mechanisms and clinical management of sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
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