The study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit showed that healthy rats are less likely to suffer the long-term effects of noise-induced hearing loss when given resveratrol before being exposed to loud noise for a long period of time.
"Our latest study focuses on resveratrol and its effect on bioinflammation, the body's response to injury and something that is believed to be the cause of many health problems including Alzheimer''s disease, cancer, aging and hearing loss," said study lead author Michael D. Seidman, director of the Division of Otologic/Neurotologic Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital.
"Resveratrol is a very powerful chemical that seems to protect against the body's inflammatory process as it relates to ageing, cognition and hearing loss."
Noise-induced hearing loss not only impacts a person''s ability to hear, it can cause difficulties with sleep and communication, and even raises the risk for heart disease by increasing a person's blood pressure, lipids and blood sugar.
"We've shown that by giving animals resveratrol, we can reduce the amount of hearing and cognitive decline," notes Dr. Seidman.
Ultimately, these findings suggest that resveratrol may exert a protective effect from noise-induced hearing loss by the inhibition of COX-2 expression and reactive oxygen species formation, although other mechanism may also be involved.
