Is Serum Uric Acid Level a Prognostic Value for Tinnitus Severity?

Objective: Tinnitus is a disease that concerns a large part of society and its pathophysiology and etiology have not been exactly clarified. This study will investigate the association between serum uric acid (SUA) levels and idiopathic subjective tinnitus. Material and Methods: Ninety-one tinnitus patients and 45 age-and sex-matched healthy volunteers were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups as mild tinnitus and severe tinnitus according to the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory questionnaire. They underwent otolaryngologic examination, routine hematological and biochemical analyses, pure tone audiometry, doppler ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging to exclude possible causes of tinnitus. Patients with abnormalities in any test result were excluded from the study. The blood test results were statistically compared between the groups. Results: Except for SUA levels, no significant difference was found between groups in any blood test results (p>0.05). Significant differences among the groups were determined in SUA levels (p=0.001). SUA levels were found to be significantly higher in the severe tinnitus group than in the mild tinnitus or control group (p=0.002, p=0.001). However, there is no statistically significant difference between the mild tinnitus group and the control group (p=0.617). Conclusion: In this study, it was observed that there was a clear correlation between higher SUA levels and severe tinnitus. But this association did not reveal SUA levels as an accurate biological marker for tinnitus. It could only be utilized as a marker of disease severity. Further studies will help to reveal the exact relation. © 2022, Istanbul University Press. All rights reserved.