Investigation of the histological structure of cochlea and corti under light and electron microscope
Betül Yalçın1, Esra Balcıoğlu1, Arzu Yay1, Gözde Özge Önder1, Pınar Bilgici1, Mehmet Akif Somdaş2
1Erciyes Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Histoloji ve Embriyoloji Anabilim Dalı, Kayseri, Türkiye
2Erciyes Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Kulak Burun Boğaz Anabilim Dalı, Kayseri, Türkiye
Keywords: Auditory hair cells, inner ear, organ of Corti
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the histological structure of the cochlea and organ of Corti of the ear under light and scanning electron microscope (SEM).
METHODS: A total of eight Wistar albino rats (aging 4 month, weighing 300-350 g) were used in this study. The right cochlea was detected in glutaraldehyde with phosphate buffer to examine in SEM. For light microscopy, cochlea was fixed in 10% formaldehyde solution and then decalcified. The sections taken from the tissues were stained with hematoxylin & eosin to evaluate the histological structure of the cochlea and Corti.
RESULTS: In light microscopic images, scala media, scala vestibuli, and scala tympani were easily selected. In the SEM images, only scala media region where the organ of Corti was located was examined. Three lines of the outer hair cells and one line of inner hair cells were observed in SEM images after the removal of the tectorial membrane. The Deiter’s cells supporting the inner and outer hair cells were obvious with their plaque-like structures.
CONCLUSION: We believe that the acquired images would contribute to the literature in the determination of the pathological conditions which may occur in the cochlea and the cortical structure, when they are particularly supported by the hearing tests.