The worldwide frequency of MYO15A gene mutations in patients with non-syndromic hearing loss: A meta-analysis

MYO15A is the third most crucial gene in hereditary sensorineural hearing loss after GJB2 and SLC26A4. In the present study, we reviewed the prevalence of MYO15A mutations in patients with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL). In this meta-analysis, we conducted a search of PubMed, Web of Science, Excerpta Medica Database, and Scopus, and identified the articles up to September 2019 without any time limit. Two investigators independently selected the relevant papers and extracted the required information. A total of 44 case-control and case series studies were considered, and 4176 patients and 3706 healthy individuals, as the control group, were included. The pooled frequency of MYO15A mutations between patients suffering from ARNSHL was calculated as 6.2% (95% CI: 4.9-7.8, P-value<0.001). There was heterogeneity between our studies (P-value<0.001, I2=58.1%); therefore, the random-effects model was utilized for analysis. Given the results, in many countries, the MYO15A gene has a significant contribution to hearing loss. Moreover, in several regions, specific dominant mutations in this gene have been reported. Therefore, the ethnic background should be considered to investigate the mutations of the MYO15A gene.