TNF-α and HSP70 levels appears to be sensitive to the time when samples were collected (morning or afternoon).<b>Conclusions:</b> The results of our study showing fluctuations in inflammatory markers along the hearing loss process, reinforce the idea that inflammatory mechanisms are involved in hearing loss pathogenesis but also in tinnitus.
A statistically significant association was found between genotype frequencies of the TNFα gene in the -308 G/A region and the complaint of tinnitus (P = 0.04 and χ<sup>2</sup> = 4.19).
Linear regression analysis revealed a significant positive association between tinnitus scores and expression levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and NR2B genes in cochlea and IC.