Figure 3

Quantitative analysis of surviving outer hair cells (OHCs) by cochlear turns. Data are expressed as the mean number of surviving OHCs per 20 IHCs. Vertical lines represent SEM. A) Average OHC survival in the apical turn in the different experimental conditions. There was a statistically significant increase in OHC survival between the groups treated with simvastatin in the concentration of 10 μM and 100 μM in addition to gentamicin compared with gentamicin treatment only (p < 0.05). * indicates significant difference from gentamicin treatment only. B) Average OHC survival in the middle turn in the different experimental conditions. There was a statistically significant increase in OHC survival between the groups treated with simvastatin in addition to gentamicin compared with gentamicin treatment only (p < 0.05 simvastatin 1 μM, p < 0.01 simvastatin 10 μM and simvastatin 100 μM). The protective effect of simvastatin was dose dependent. * indicates significant difference from gentamicin treatment only. + indicates significant difference between the indicated groups (p < 0.01).C) Average OHC survival in the basal turn in the different experimental conditions. There was a statistically significant increase in OHC survival between the groups treated with simvastatin in addition to gentamicin compared with gentamicin treatment only (p < 0.05 simvastatin 1 μM, p < 0.01 simvastatin 10 μM and simvastatin 100 μM). The protective effect of simvastatin was dose dependent. * indicates significant difference from gentamicin treatment only. + indicates significant difference between the indicated groups (p < 0.01).