Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the association between Pseudoexfoliation (PEX) and hearing loss and the role of LOXL1 gene polymorphism as the common risk factor.
Methods: We carried out case-control study by including 72 PEX patients and 72 age and gender matched healthy controls. Patients were examined for ophthalmic and audiometric analysis followed by SNP rs1048661 genotyping by PCR-RFLP method.
Results: Minor allele frequency was 81 % in PEX patients and 47 % in healthy individuals (P = 1.9 X 10-3; Odds ratio = 2.2). The frequency of hearing loss was 78.3 % among PEX patients and 45.9 % among controls. Association between PEX with hearing loss & sensorineural hearing loss(SNHL) shows statistical significance and showed the highest odds ratio for the risk allele.
Conclusion: The results show that SNP rs1048661 in the LOXL1 gene in PEX patients is associated with the risk of SNHL. This association underlines the importance of genetic variation which may be the risk factor causing SNHL.