Figure 1

Morphological alteration and functional impairment after NE. A) Representative cochlear sensory epithelia surface preparation in the bottom basilar membrane structure from Ctrl, NE 4 h and NE 2d groups. A’) Morphological alteration of cochlear sensory epithelia surface preparation in the middle membrane structure from Ctrl, NE 4 h and NE 2d groups. A”) Morphological alteration of cochlear sensory epithelia surface preparation in the apex membrane structure from Ctrl, NE 4 h and NE 2d groups. B) Percentage of OHC loss in each row. The loss was observed mainly in the first row and the posterior second row. C) Mean ABR threshold shifts in Ctrl, NE 4 h and NE 2d groups. D) ABR hearing threshold to pure tone frequencies in Ctrl, NE 4 h and NE 2d groups. Scale bar = 20 μm in A, A’ and A”. **P < 0.01, vs Ctrl, data were expressed as mean ± SEM. and indicate Hair Cell loss.