Heat shock protein 70 gene polymorphisms in sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

BACKGROUND Heat shock proteins protect cells and tissues against different types of damage. Previous studies have revealed that the serum level of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) increases in sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) patients. We hypothesized that genetic variants of the HSP70 gene are associated with susceptibility to SSNHL. METHODS We conducted a case-control study with 160 SSNHL cases and 178 controls. Three tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected. The genotypes were determined using TaqMan technology. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was tested for each SNP, and genetic effects were evaluated according to three inheritance modes. A haplotype analysis was also performed. RESULTS All three SNPs were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The CT genotype of rs2075800 exhibited an adjusted odds ratio of 0.59 (95% confidence interval 0.37-0.94; p = 0.027). The T allele of SNP rs2075800 was associated with SSNHL under the dominant model (p = 0.019; odds ratio 0.59). Haplotype analysis of the three SNPs demonstrated that the haplotype TGC (rs2075800/rs1043618/rs2763979) was statistically significant (p = 0.0137). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that HSP70 gene polymorphisms influence the susceptibility to the development of SSNHL in the Taiwanese population.