Evaluation and Clinical Significance of Serum Heat Shock Protein70, 60 and 27 on Hearing Recovery in Patients With Idiopathic Unilateral Sudden Hearing Loss.

Objective: According to earlier studies, heat shock proteins (Hsps) is expressed in cochlear cells after ototoxic stimuli. In this study we investigated the possibility that Hsps could be found in circulation and observed its possible clinical role in pat!ents with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). Materials and Methods: We enrolled 61 patients with idiopathic unilateral SSNHL and 30 normal controls for this study. Their serum Hsp70, 60 and 27 levels were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test and confirmed by Western blot immunoassay. Serum Hsps levels were analyzed to find the possible clinical value in patients with SSNHL. Results: The patients with SSNHL did not show significantly higher serum Hsp70, 60 and 27 levels than the normal controls, as measured by the ELISA test (P > 0.05). There were no strong bands indicating the presence of Hsp70, 60 and 27 on the Western blot assay. Conclusion: In this study, the serum Hsp70, 60 and 27 levels in the patients with SSNHL were n0t elevated as compared to the normal controls. There were no clinical significance of serum Hsp 70, 60 and 27 in hearing outcome of patients with sudden hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]