title: Long-Term Dietary Folate Deficiency Accelerates Progressive Hearing Loss on CBA/Ca Mice.
abstract: Dietary folic acid deficiency induced early hearing loss in C57BL/6J mice after 2-months, corroborates the epidemiological association previously described between vitamin deficiency and this sensory impairment. However, this strain is prone to early hearing loss, and hence we decided to analyze whether the effects exerted by folate deprivation follow the same pattern in a mouse strain such as CBA/Ca, which is resistant to hearing impairment. Here, we show results of a long-term study on hearing carried out on CBA/Ca mice subjected to dietary folate deprivation. Systemic changes included decreased serum folate levels, hyperhomocysteinemia and signs of anemia in the group fed with folate-deficient (FD) diet. Initial signs of hearing loss were detected in this strain after 8-months of vitamin deficiency, and correlated with histological damage in the cochleae. In conclusion, the data presented reinforce the importance of adequate folic acid levels for the auditory system and suggest that the impact of dietary deficiencies may depend on the genetic background.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols (CSIC-UAM) Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martínez-Vega
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols (CSIC-UAM)Madrid, Spain; Unidad 761, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos IIIMadrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Hospital Universitario La Paz (IdiPAZ)Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murillo-Cuesta
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas y de la Salud, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad CEU San Pablo Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Partearroyo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas y de la Salud, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad CEU San Pablo Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Gregorio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Varela-Moreiras
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols (CSIC-UAM)Madrid, Spain; Unidad 761, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos IIIMadrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Hospital Universitario La Paz (IdiPAZ)Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Varela-Nieto
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols (CSIC-UAM)Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Hospital Universitario La Paz (IdiPAZ)Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: María A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pajares
keywords: cochlea; dietary intervention; folic acid; hearing impairment; homocysteine; hyperhomocysteinemia; vitamin deficiency