Association between ankylosing spondylitis and hearing loss: A Mendelian randomization study.

Authors

Qingyuan Yang, Junlai Xu

Published in

Medicine. Volume 105. Issue 42. Pages e51185. Oct 16, 2026.

Abstract

Observational studies have suggested a potential link between ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and hearing loss. However, this association remains controversial due to potential drug-induced ototoxicity from treatments. Therefore, we employed a Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to evaluate the association between AS and hearing loss from a genetic perspective. This MR study utilized summary data from genome-wide association studies on AS and hearing loss, including sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and conductive hearing loss (CHL). The primary analysis was conducted using the inverse-variance weighted method. The primary analysis showed a causal effect of AS on both SNHL (odds ratio [OR] = 1.121, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.042-1.206, P = .002) and CHL (OR = 1.387, 95% CI: 1.123-1.712, P = .002). After excluding chromosome 6 variants, the association with CHL persisted (OR = 1.675, 95% CI: 1.212-2.315, P = .002), while the effect on SNHL was no longer significant (OR = 1.054, 95% CI: 0.942-1.181, P = .357). The primary inverse-variance weighted analysis showed no causal effect of SNHL on AS (OR = 0.984, 95% CI: 0.892-1.086, P = .747). Sensitivity analyses found no evidence of horizontal pleiotropy. This MR study suggests that AS is causally associated with higher risks of CHL and SNHL. The association with CHL appears independent of the chromosome 6 human leukocyte antigen region, whereas the risk for SNHL is largely driven by this region. These findings suggest that targeted audiometric evaluations should be considered for symptomatic patients with AS. Further studies are required to explore the specific mechanisms linking AS to different types of hearing loss.

PMID:
42888601
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 17 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.