A Mendelian randomization study on the causal relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease and deafness and tinnitus
XIAN Yin
YUAN Ling
TIAN Hongxu
YANG Zhi
JIANG Shuangquan
Abstract：Objective Previous studies have indicated that gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD)is associated with hearing loss(HL)and tinnitus.This study aims to investigate the causal relationship between GERD and major types of HL,including idiopathic sudden sensorineural HL,sensorineural HL,mixed HL,conductive HL,and tinnitus,using a two-sample Mendelian randomization(MR)approach.Methods Single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)strongly associated with GERD were used as instrumental variables.The SNP datasets for GERD,HL and tinnitus and non-tinnitus were downloaded from the European Bioinformatics Institute,the FinnGen database,and the UK Biobank,respectively.The inverse variance weighted(IVW)method,along with three other commonly used MR models,was employed for analysis.Sensitivity analyses were performed using Cochran's Q test,MR-Egger intercept test,leave-one-out analysis,funnel plot and Mendelian randomization pleiotropy residual sum and outlier(MR-PRESSO)tests.Results IVW analysis indicated that GERD increases the risk of idiopathic sudden sensorineural HL(OR:1.365,95%CI:1.079～1.726,P=0.009)and decreases the risk of non-tinnitus(OR:0.950,95%CI:0.927～0.974,P<0.001).Sensitivity analysis showed no heterogeneity,horizontal pleiotropy,or outliers among the SNPs included in the MR analysis.Conclusions GERD significantly increases the risk of idiopathic sudden sensorineural HL and tinnitus.This study provides a theoretical basis for the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss and tinnitus.
Keywords：hearing lossgastroesophageal reflux diseaseMendelian randomizationidiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing losstinnitus
Publication Date：2026-01-20
Online Publishing Date：2026-01-17(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：8( 38-45 )