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The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences Advance Access originally published online on April 6, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2009 64A(8):910-915; doi:10.1093/gerona/glp038
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Serum Levels of Retinol and Other Antioxidants for Hearing Impairment Among Japanese Older Adults

Takehiro Michikawa1, Yuji Nishiwaki1, Yuriko Kikuchi1, Kanae Hosoda1, Kunio Mizutari2, Hideyuki Saito2, Keiko Asakura1, Ai Milojevic1, Satoko Iwasawa1, Makiko Nakano1 and Toru Takebayashi1

1 Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
2 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

Address correspondence to Yuji Nishiwaki, MD, MSc, DMSc, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan. Email: nisiwaki{at}sc.itc.keio.ac.jp


  Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to assess the relation between serum levels of retinol and other antioxidants and hearing impairment in Japanese older adults.

Methods: This is a community-based cross-sectional study comprising 762 residents aged 65 years or older in Kurabuchi, Gumma, Japan. We measured serum retinol and other antioxidants (alpha- and gamma-tocopherols, and carotenoids including beta-cryptoxanthin, alpha- and beta-carotenes, lycopene, and lutein plus zeaxanthin) by high-performance liquid chromatography and divided each measurement into quartiles. Hearing impairment was defined as a failure to hear a 30-dB hearing level (HL) signal at 1 kHz and a 40-dB HL signal at 4 kHz in the better ear in pure-tone audiometric tests. The odds ratios (OR) for hearing impairment were calculated for each of the upper three quartiles of retinol and other antioxidant levels relative to the lowest quartile.

Results: Crude analysis showed that serum levels of retinol and provitamin A carotenoids (beta-cryptoxanthin, and alpha- and beta-carotenes) were inversely related to the prevalence of hearing impairment. The multiadjusted ORs (95% confidence intervals) for the highest quartile of retinol and the provitamin A family (combinations of provitamin A carotenoids) compared with the lowest were 0.51 (0.26–1.00) and 0.53 (0.27–1.02), respectively. A dose–response relationship was observed for retinol (p = .03) and provitamin A (p = .09).

Conclusion: Increased serum levels of retinol and provitamin A carotenoids were clearly associated with a decreased prevalence of hearing impairment.

Keywords Retinol; Provitamin A; Hearing; Aged; Japan

Received: October 15, 2008; Accepted: January 23, 2009

Decision Editor: Luigi Ferrucci, MD, PhD


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