The FASEB Journal publishes a paper codirected by Drs. Isabel Varela-Nieto and María A. Pajares that demonstrates the direct association between the nutritional deficit in folic acid and early hearing loss. This work was carried out in collaboration with the groups of Drs. Gregorio Varela-Moreiras (CEU), Concepción Martínez-Álvarez (UCM) and Steven Zeisel (University of North Carolina). The animal model used allowed the detection of severe histological damage in the cochlea, together with alterations in cochlear homocysteine metabolism that are shown for the first time. These changes also associated to a certain level of oxidative stress and the increase of protein homocysteinylation in the cochlea.
Funding: MINECO, Puleva BioFoods, FP7-AFHELO y TARGEAR y US National Institutes of Health.