Auditory Function and Female Sex Hormones (Narrative Review)

It seems that female sex hormones (estrogen and progesterone) affect hearing functions. Hence, this narrative review study was designed to determine the relationship between auditory function and female sex hormones. Based on the inclusion criteria, the full text of 52 articles published in 2000 to 2023 were extracted from Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science websites and became the sources of this research. The results of the studies showed that the entire human auditory and vestibular system is dimorphic, and the serotonergic system is sex-dependent. Estrogen protects the auditory system. Progesterone is a neuroinhibitory hormone and modulates the stimulatory role of estrogen. Due to the stimulating role of estrogen, men are more likely to have high-frequency hearing loss than women, and due to the inhibitory role of progesterone, women are more likely to have low-frequency hearing loss. There is also a possibility of hearing-balance disorders in pregnant women, especially in the third trimester of pregnancy and it may cause symptoms similar to Meniere’s disease. There are different opinions about the impact of hormonal changes during menopause on hearing functions. However, the age of menopause coincides with the onset of presbycusis, and these two conditions occur simultaneously.

Keywords: Female sex hormones, Estrogen, Progesterone, Sensorineural hearing loss