Unusual morphology of the stria vascularis in pigmented strain 2/NCR guinea pigs.
This paper reports an abnormality in the morphology of the apical stria vascularis of inbred 2/NCR guinea pigs as compared to outbred animals. Cochleas were embedded in plastic, sectioned, and examined in the light and electron microscopes. In the 2/NCR animals, the apical stria vascularis consisted of a cuboidal epithelium composed of a monolayer of poorly differentiated cells. Few or no capillaries were associated with this epithelium. No melanin pigment was present in the abnormal region of the stria in these animals, although pigmentation appeared normal in lower turns of the cochlea. Measurements of compound action potential thresholds between 2 and 40 kHz revealed no differences in auditory function between the two strains.
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205.
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Hoeffding
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Fechter
D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D004848:Epithelium / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D006168:Guinea Pigs / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007178:Inbreeding; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010858:Pigmentation; D013045:Species Specificity; D013316:Stria Vascularis / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*