Plasma very long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and age-related hearing loss in older adults

Objectives: Age-related hearing loss is a common social and health problem in the older adult population. Up until now, very little scientific attention has been given to the potential role of fatty acids in agerelated hearing loss. In this study we investigated whether plasma very long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are associated with age-related hearing loss over three years. Design: Cross-sectional and 3-year longitudinal analyses. Setting: Wageningen, the Netherlands. Participants: 720 men and postmenopausal women (50-70 years of age) without middle ear dysfunction or unilateral hearing loss. Measurements: Fatty acid proportions were measured in plasma cholesteryl esters. Hearing thresholds (in decibels, dB) at baseline and after three years were measured with pure-tone audiometry. Hearing loss was calculated as the increase in mean hearing thresholds in the low (0.5-kHz, 1-kHz, and 2-kHz) and high (4-kHz, 6-kHz, and 8-kHz) frequencies over three years. Results: Subjects in the highest quartile of plasma very long-chain n-3 PUFA had less hearing loss in the low frequencies over three years than subjects in the lowest quartile (