Tinnitus and its relationship with anxiety and depression in the elderly: a systematic review

In Silico Study in MPO and Molecular Docking of the Synthetic Drynaran Analogues Against the Chronic Tinnitus: Modulation of the M1 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor

Tinnitus is a syndrome that affects the human auditory system and is characterized by a perception of sounds in the absence of acoustic stimuli, or in total silence. Research indicates that muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs), especially the M1 type, have a fundamental role in the alterations of auditory perceptions of tinnitus. Here, a series of computer-aided tools were used, from molecular surface analysis software to services available on the web for estimating pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The results infer that the low lipophilicity ligands, that is, the 1a-d alkyl furans, present the best pharmacokinetic profile, as compounds with an optimal alignment between permeability and clearance. However, only ligands 1a and 1b have properties that are safe for the central nervous system, the site of cholinergic modulation. These ligands showed similarity with compounds deposited in the European Molecular Biology Laboratory chemical (ChEMBL) database acting on the mAChRs M1 type, the target selected for the molecular docking test. The simulations suggest that the 1 g ligand can form the ligand-receptor complex with the best affinity energy order and that, together with the 1b ligand, they are competitive agonists in relation to the antagonist Tiotropium, in addition to acting in synergism with the drug Bromazepam in the treatment of chronic tinnitus.

Aging Makes the Heart Grow Fonder: Age Influences Hearing Ability and Interactions between Psychological Phenomena in Patients with Chronic Tinnitus

(1) Background: Risk factors for chronic tinnitus comprise interactions of individuals' hearing difficulties and psychological distress-including anxiety, depression, and perceived stress levels. Both groups of factors likely become more pronounced with age, although mixed literature has also suggested increases in psychological resilience over time. To this end, only a few studies have delineated direct and indirect effects of age on audiological and psychological variables that might influence tinnitus-related distress in patients with chronic tinnitus. (2) Methods: N = 678 patients with chronic tinnitus completed audiological assessments alongside self-report measures of psychological and tinnitus-related distress. Path analyses investigated the effect of age on patients' tinnitus-related distress via both audiological and psychological variables. (3) Results: Age was significantly associated with both hearing ability and psychological distress indices, with perceived stress and anxiety decreasing with aging. Different mediation models revealed that the association between age and tinnitus-related distress was mediated completely by hearing ability and partly by perceived stress and anxiety. (4) Conclusions: Whilst interactions of individuals' hearing ability and psychological distress levels maintain tinnitus-related distress across the age span, the weighting of these factors may shift with age. Treatment approaches should consider hearing ability across the lifespan. Psychological factors should be individually conceptualized, considering both distress-related and potential resilience factors in old age.

Prevalence and associated risk factors of tinnitus among adult Palestinians: a cross-sectional study

Tinnitus is a common complaint with potentially negative impact on quality of life. Prevalence of tinnitus ranges from 5 to 43% worldwide. This variation could be due to the heterogeneity of tinnitus assessment. This has limited the progress in understanding tinnitus. Therefore, we employed a standardized and a validated assessment method to determine the prevalence and related risk factors of tinnitus among Palestinians for the first time. This is a cross-sectional study in which we questioned a representative sample of 618 subjects in one-to-one interviews. The prevalence of any tinnitus was 30.6% among adult Palestinians. Participants from the oldest age group were almost five times more likely to have tinnitus. Moreover, participants with head and neck pain syndrome, severe hearing impairment, sleeping disorders or frequent complaints of vertigo were approximately two times more likely to have tinnitus. Our study provides novel information regarding tinnitus in Palestine and improves our understanding of tinnitus. This will improve the diagnosis and consequently will contribute in reducing the prevalence and perhaps in preventing tinnitus. As tinnitus still has no known cure, further investigations of modifiable risk factors and causes of tinnitus are crucial to prevent it in the future.

Anxiety sensitivities, anxiety and depression levels, and personality traits of patients with chronic subjective tinnitus: a case-control study

Objectives: Tinnitus is a condition that commonly affects individuals' daily activities. We aimed to evaluate the anxiety sensitivity, levels of anxiety and depression, and personality traits of patients with chronic subjective tinnitus.Methods: The study included 42 patients, who visited the Otorhinolaryngology Clinic, complained of having tinnitus for at least 1 year and did not have any previous peripheral vestibular diseases or psychiatric treatment history. Forty-five healthy individuals volunteered to be in the control group. We administered the Tinnitus-Severity-Index (TSI), Anxiety-Sensitivity-Index-3 (ASI-3), Beck-Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck-Depression-Inventory (BDI) and Eysenck-Personality- Questionnaire (EPQ) to the study participants.Results: The BDI score was significantly higher in the patient group. The ASI-3, EPQ, and BAI scores of the patients did not differ statistically. A positive correlation was found between the EPQ neuroticism subscale scores and the ASI-3, BDI, and BAI scores of the patient cases. There was also a positive correlation between the TSI scores and the BAI, ASI-3, and neuroticism scores of the tinnitus group.Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, few studies have evaluated anxiety sensitivity, anxiety and depression levels, and personality traits and no studies evaluating patients and controls together. In cases where tinnitus and psychiatric diseases are comorbid, both conditions should be treated to achieve the best outcomes for the patients' quality of life.KEY POINTSAlthough patients with tinnitus were selected among cases without any psychiatric treatment history, we found that depressive symptoms in this group were high.The participants' anxiety sensitivity, anxiety, and neuroticism scores increased as the severity of their tinnitus increased.The anxiety sensitivity, anxiety, and depressive scores increased along with the increase in the neuroticism scores of the patients with chronic subjective tinnitus.