title: Experimental studies on the role of vitamin A in the inner ear.
abstract: With the sole exception of the hair cells of the inner ear, where information is lacking, all special somatic afferent receptor cells have been shown to be dependent upon vitamin A for normal function. In view of the paucity of information on the role of vitamin A in the inner ear, three experiments were performed to examine this relationship. Temporal bone histopathology was studied in rats deprived of vitamin A. In a second experiment, vitamin A-deficient rats were maintained with vitamin A acid and the histopathology was studied under the light microscope. In the third experiment, a microfluorometric estimate of the content of vitamin A in the guinea pig cochlea was performed. A fluorescent compound with the exact spectral characteristics of vitamin A was found in the guinea pig cochlea at a concentration of 21.2 micrograms/gm, which is ten times the vitamin A concentration found in most other tissues.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D003051:Cochlea / Q000032:analysis; D007758:Ear, Inner / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007759:Labyrinth Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D008661:Metabolism, Inborn Errors / Q000503:physiopathology; D051381:Rats; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A; D014212:Tretinoin