SUMMARY
Cadmium (Cd
+) is a heavy metal and a potent carcinogen implicated in tumor development through occupational and environmental exposure. However, the auditory effect of Cd 2 + is not poorly understood. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether prevent the ototoxic effects of Cd 2 + by antioxidnat in auditory cell line, HEI-OC1. Rosmarinic acid is a naturally occurring phenolic compound and also known to possess marked antioxidant properties. We showed that antioxidnat inhibited the the cytochrome c release induced by Cd 2 + . In addition, we showed that the regulatory effect of antioxidnat on apoptosis is through the caspase-9 activation, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation in auditory cells. These results suggested antioxidnat its therapeutic usefulness, against Cd 2 + induced activation of caspase-9 and ERK.