Association of noise exposure, plasma microRNAs with arterial stiffness among Chinese workers

Long-term noise exposure is reported to damage cardiovascular system, but the relationship between occupational noise exposure and arterial stiffness (AS) and the underlying mechanism is still unclear. We aimed to investigate the association of occupational noise exposure with arterial stiffness (AS), and further explore the mediation roles of microRNAs (miRNAs). A total of 838 workers were recruited from two companies in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Cumulative occupational noise exposure (CNE) was assessed through noise level of job title and work years in occupational noise. The AS for the participants were evaluated using brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) measured by an oscillometric device. Each 1-unit increase in CNE levels was significantly associated with a 0.002 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.001-0.003) unit increase in ln-transformed values of baPWV. In the sex-specific analysis, the association was significant in males (β = 0.002, 95%CI = 0.001-0.003). Meanwhile, the risk of bilateral hearing loss at high frequency was significantly higher in the high-exposed group than non-exposed group (OR = 1.895, 95%CI = 1.024-3.508), and participants with bilateral hearing loss at high frequency had a significantly higher level of ln-transformed baPWV (β = 0.032, 95%CI = 0.003-0.061). Occupational noise exposure and AS were both negatively associated with plasma miR-92a-3p and miR-21-5p, and the two miRNAs mediated 15.0% and 16.8% of the association of occupational noise with AS (P < 0.05). Our findings suggest that occupational noise exposure is positively associated with AS, and plasma miR-92a-3p and miR-21-5p may partly mediate such association.