Prescription Drug Guide

Friday, April 27, 2007

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - You might want to accompany that next rock concert with a few antioxidant cocktails, if new animal research is correct.

In experiments with guinea pigs, researchers found that a combination of antioxidants -- vitamins A, C and E, plus magnesium -- seemed to protect the animals from noise-induced hearing loss.

A clinical trial will soon be underway to test the effects of the nutrients on soldiers who are exposed to loud noises during training, Dr. Colleen G. Le Prell, the lead author of the current study, told Reuters Health.

But until more is known about the antioxidants' effects on human hearing, it's probably not a good idea to crank the volume on your iPod. If these antioxidants are effective, it's not clear what doses people would need to protect their hearing, according to Le Prell, a researcher at the University of Michigan Hearing Research Institute in Ann Arbor.

"We don't yet have human data that confirm effectiveness of these agents at any given dose," she said.

The findings, published in the latest issue of Free Radical Biology & Medicine, are based on experiments with guinea pigs exposed to the decibel equivalent of a jet engine at take-off.

One hour before the noise exposure and once-daily for 5 days after, the animals were given either the vitamin-magnesium combination, just one of the nutrients or a placebo supplement. In the end, the researchers found, animals given the antioxidant combo showed significantly less hearing loss than the other groups did.

According to Le Prell's team, the pre-exposure treatment may have helped by suppressing the development of cell-damaging substances called free radicals. The post-noise doses, in turn, may have lessened harm to the auditory nerves.

Along with soldiers, others regularly exposed to noise pollution could potentially benefit from the antioxidant combo -- such as pilots, construction workers or musicians, and even fans of NASCAR, rock concerts or MP3 players -- according to Le Prell.

For now, she suggests that people try to get the recommended amounts of magnesium and vitamins A, C and E through diet.

SOURCE: Free Radical Biology & Medicine, May 1, 2007.