{"title":"The Influence of Skin Pigmentation on Cochlear Functioning: A Study on Individuals with Normal Hearing Sensitivity","authors":"Shubhaganga Dhrruvakumar, Kamalakannan Karupaiah, Perpetua Nancy Sahayaraj, Shakthi Samyuktha Thiyagu, Prashanth Prabhu, Bhuvaneswari Kumaar","doi":"10.18502/avr.v33i3.15509","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background and Aim: Melanocytes are cells in the skin, hair, and eyes that generate pigment called melanin, which is primarily responsible for the pigmentation of these structures. These melanocytes, known as the Cochlear Melanocyte, are also present in the human ears (especially in the cochlea) and play a significant role in fostering endocochlear potential and preventing the odds of hearing loss. The current study investigated the relationship of skin pigment with cochlear function through distortion product otoacoustic emission in Indian skin type. \nMethods: A total of 120 participants aged between 17 to 25 were included using a purposive sampling technique. The subjects were further grouped based on a questionnaire on Fitzpatrick Skin Phototype (FSP) developed by Thomas Fitzpatrick (1975) and categorized as type III- type VI suitable for Indian skin types. Along with routine audiometric evaluations, the cochlear functioning was assessed using distortion product otoacoustic emissions. The standard group research design was used, and as data was normally distributed, multivariate analysis of variance was used to compare across groups. \nResults: The results of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed no significant differences across the four groups for both amplitude and the slope of distortion product otoacoustic emissions. \nConclusion: The present study using otoacoustic emissions revealed that the skin pigmentation did not affect cochlear functioning in the Indian population (type III through type VI) as seen in type I and II. \nKeywords: Melanocytes; hearing loss; cochlear function; skin pigmentation","PeriodicalId":34089,"journal":{"name":"Auditory and Vestibular Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Auditory and Vestibular Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.18502/avr.v33i3.15509","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"AUDIOLOGY & SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background and Aim: Melanocytes are cells in the skin, hair, and eyes that generate pigment called melanin, which is primarily responsible for the pigmentation of these structures. These melanocytes, known as the Cochlear Melanocyte, are also present in the human ears (especially in the cochlea) and play a significant role in fostering endocochlear potential and preventing the odds of hearing loss. The current study investigated the relationship of skin pigment with cochlear function through distortion product otoacoustic emission in Indian skin type.
Methods: A total of 120 participants aged between 17 to 25 were included using a purposive sampling technique. The subjects were further grouped based on a questionnaire on Fitzpatrick Skin Phototype (FSP) developed by Thomas Fitzpatrick (1975) and categorized as type III- type VI suitable for Indian skin types. Along with routine audiometric evaluations, the cochlear functioning was assessed using distortion product otoacoustic emissions. The standard group research design was used, and as data was normally distributed, multivariate analysis of variance was used to compare across groups.
Results: The results of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed no significant differences across the four groups for both amplitude and the slope of distortion product otoacoustic emissions.
Conclusion: The present study using otoacoustic emissions revealed that the skin pigmentation did not affect cochlear functioning in the Indian population (type III through type VI) as seen in type I and II.
Keywords: Melanocytes; hearing loss; cochlear function; skin pigmentation
背景和目的:黑色素细胞是皮肤、毛发和眼睛中的细胞,能生成称为黑色素的色素,主要负责这些结构的色素沉着。这些黑色素细胞被称为耳蜗黑色素细胞,它们也存在于人耳(尤其是耳蜗)中,在促进耳蜗内潜能和防止听力损失的几率方面发挥着重要作用。本研究通过印度肤色的耳声发射畸变产物,研究皮肤色素与耳蜗功能的关系。研究方法采用目的性抽样技术,共纳入 120 名年龄在 17 至 25 岁之间的参与者。受试者根据托马斯-菲茨帕特里克(Thomas Fitzpatrick,1975 年)制定的菲茨帕特里克皮肤光型(FSP)问卷进一步分组,并根据印度人的皮肤类型分为 III 型至 VI 型。在进行常规听力评估的同时,还使用耳声发射畸变产品对耳蜗功能进行了评估。采用标准的分组研究设计,由于数据呈正态分布,因此采用多变量方差分析对各组进行比较。结果多变量方差分析(MANOVA)结果显示,四个组别在失真产物耳声发射的振幅和斜率方面均无显著差异。结论本研究利用耳声发射发现,与 I 型和 II 型相比,印度人群(III 型至 VI 型)的皮肤色素沉着并不影响耳蜗功能。关键词黑色素细胞;听力损失;耳蜗功能;皮肤色素沉着