Resveratrol can protect from hearing and cognitive disabilities
Researchers have found that resveratrol can help against the hearing and cognition disabilities.
This research has been published online in the journal Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
Resveratrol is a substance found in the skin of red grapes. However, it has also been found in peanuts and berries. This compound is found to have anti-oxidant properties thereby protecting body against the disorders that may lead to cancer or heart attack. It has also anti-inflammatory properties.
“Resveratrol is a very powerful chemical that seems to protect against the body’s inflammatory process as it relates to aging, cognition and hearing loss.” Michael D. Seidman, director of the Division of Otologic/Neurotologic Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital and study lead author, said in a statement.
Hearing loss is one of the growing medical issues as it affects nearly one in five Americans. Hearing ability usually declines with age. Moreover, noise induced hearing loss is also a growing problem.
In this study, researchers found that reseveratrol decreases the chances of loud-noise-induced hearing loss in rats.
“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,” Dr. Seidman said.
Researchers worked on the protective ability of resveratrol after noise exposure by determining its effect on cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2, which is important in inflammatory processes), protein expression and formation of reactive oxygen species, which has an important role in cell signaling and homeostasis.
Researchers found increase in COX-2 protein expression after noise exposure while resveratrol decreases the reactive oxygen species, inhibits COX-2 expression resulting in reduced hearing loss after noise exposure in rats.
“We’ve shown that by giving animals resveratrol, we can reduce the amount of hearing and cognitive decline,” Dr. Seidman noted.
Reference:
Seidman, M., Tang, W., Bai, V., Ahmad, N., Jiang, H., Media, J., Patel, N., Rubin, C., & Standring, R. (2013). Resveratrol Decreases Noise-Induced Cyclooxygenase-2 Expression in the Rat Cochlea Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery DOI: 10.1177/0194599813475777
