Higher aortic systolic blood pressure and augmentation index AIxHR75 were associated with worse speech recognition threshold and pure tone averages in healthy older adults, with correlations attenuated by age and inflammatory biomarkers MMP-2 and resistin.
Cross-Sectional (n=22)
No
Age-related hearing loss is associated with increased aortic stiffness and central blood pressure, a relationship that may be partially mediated by inflammatory markers such as MMP-2 and resistin.
p-value: p=<0.05 for significant correlations reported
Age-related aortic stiffening increases aortic (central) blood pressure and flow pulsatility, resulting in microvascular dysfunction and target organ damage. The relationship between aortic stiffness, aortic blood pressure, and age-related hearing loss has not been fully determined. We hypothesize that aortic stiffness and aortic blood pressure will be associated with hearing loss and attenuated by inflammatory biomarkers matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), resistin, and vaspin. Twenty-two younger (n = 11, 4M/7F, age 25.5 ± 2.1 years) and older (n = 11, 4M/7F, age 65.8 ± 0.9 years) adults completed resting measures of aortic stiffness (carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity, cfPWV), pulse wave analysis, and hearing sensitivity. Compared to young adults, older adults had higher cfPWV, aortic systolic blood pressure (aSBP), speech recognition thresholds (SRT), and pure tone averages (PTA) in the low (LFPTA) and high frequency (HFPTA) domains (all, p 0.05). cfPWV was correlated with right ear (RE) LFPTA (r = 0.45, p = 0.04) and HFPTA (r = 0.53, p = 0.01) and left ear (LE) HFPTA (r = 0.52, p = 0.02). aSBP was correlated with RE SRT (r = 0.47, p = 0.03), LE SRT (r = 0.44, p = 0.04), RE LFPTA (r = 0.41, p = 0.05), and RE (r = 0.53, p = 0.01) and LE HFPTA (r = 0.46, p = 0.03). The relationship between cfPWV and aSBP and select PTA did not remain after adjusting for MMP-2 and resistin (p 0.05). These data provide novel insights demonstrating that aortic stiffness and aSBP are related to reduced hearing sensitivity, which may, in part, be mediated by inflammation.
Carlini et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Healthy younger (mean age 25.5) and older (mean age 65.8) adults without known cardiovascular or metabolic disease and cancer, excluding hypertension >140/90 mmHg, smokers, history of head injury or stroke, with bilateral symmetrical age-related hearing loss (n=22). Higher aortic systolic blood pressure and augmentation index AIxHR75 were associated with worse speech recognition threshold and pure tone averages in healthy older adults, with correlations attenuated by age and inflammatory biomarkers MMP-2 and resistin.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: