ENT - September 2020 - 528

Clinical Study

A Preliminary Report on the Investigation
of Prestin as a Biomarker for Idiopathic
Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Ear, Nose & Throat Journal
2020, Vol. 99(8) 528-531
ª The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/0145561319849949
journals.sagepub.com/home/ear

Changling Sun, PhD, MD1, Xiaolin Xuan, MS1, Zhi Zhou, BS1,
Yuan Yuan, MS2, and Fei Xue, BS3

Abstract
To date, no specific biomarkers for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) have been used. The aim of this study is
to investigate whether prestin, the motor protein of cochlear outer hair cells, could be used as a biomarker candidate for the
diagnosis and prognosis judgement of ISSHL. Blood samples of 14 ISSHL patients and 28 control patients without history of
hearing loss were collected. Plasma prestin concentration was measured using Human Prestin (SLC26A5) ELISA Kit. The results
showed that prestin was detectable in the plasma of all patients and the concentration of prestin was significantly higher in ISSHL
patients with about half being above the average range of control patients. Moreover, in treatment responsive group, 6 of 10
patients had decreased prestin levels after treatment compared to those of before treatment, while the prestin levels of all the 4
patients in treatment unresponsive group increased in varying degrees. Our promising preliminary results suggest that prestin has
the potential to serve as a biomarker to assist diagnosis and judge response to pharmacological treatments.
Keywords
prestin, idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss, biomarker, diagnosis

Introduction
Biomarkers help increase the accuracy of diagnosis, characterize disease, aid prognosis, predict response to treatment,
and guide treatment. Currently, there are about 30 serum biomarkers that are routinely used in clinical oncology, for example, prostate-specific antigen for prostate cancer and cancer
antigen (CA)-125 for ovarian cancer.1 Unfortunately, there is
no applicable serum biomarker that can be used for early
diagnosis or management of inner ear disorders. In 2015,
Parham hypothesized that outer hair cell (OHC)-specific protein, prestin, might be a biochemical marker for early detection of acquired sensorineural hearing loss.2 He successfully
verified his hypothesis using experimental animal models of
noise-induced hearing loss and cisplatin ototoxicity.3,4 However, so far there has been no data in human being to conform
the theory. Idiophathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss
(ISSHL) is a common inner ear disease characterized by hearing loss, and OHC damage is considered to be one of the
possible mechanisms. Therefore, we hypothesized that the
plasma concentration of prestin will increase in some of
the patients with ISSHL at a certain stage after the onset of
the disease. In the present study, we collected blood samples
of patients with ISSHL and those of control patients without
history of hearing loss. Human Prestin (SLC26A5) ELISA Kit
was used to measure plasma concentration of prestin. The
difference in prestin concentration between patients with

ISSHL and control patients was compared, and the difference
between responding patients and nonresponding patients after
treatment was also analyzed.

Patients and Methods
This study was approved by the institutional review board of
affiliated hospital of Jiangnan University and Wuxi People's
Hospital affiliated to Nanjing Medical University. Plasma concentration of prestin from 14 patients of ISSHL and 24 control
1

Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Affiliated Hospital
of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu province, China
2
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Wuxi People's
Hospital affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu province,
China
3
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan
University, Wuxi, Jiangsu province, China
Received: March 13, 2019; revised: April 18, 2019; accepted: April 18, 2019
Corresponding Authors:
Fei Xue, BS, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan
University, Huihe Road 200, Wuxi 214062, China.
Email: xuefei_wuxi@163.com
Yuan Yuan, MS, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Wuxi
People's Hospital affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Qingyang Road 299,
Wuxi 214023, China.
Email: Yuanyuan_ent@163.com
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