The influence of a chronic vitamin A deficiency on the acoustic sensory cells and the ganglion spirale cochleae of the rat. An electron microscope study.

Microscope studies of the inner ear in rats with chronic vitamin A deficiency have rendered contradicting results. In our electron microscope study of the sensory cells of the inner ear in young rats with vitamin A deficiency we found that the cuticle is missing in outer hair cells. In the inner hair cells the cuticle is subtotally lacking. Furthermore, we found changes in the reticular system of the intermediate zone and massive degenerative changes in the afferent nerve system including the ganglion cells of the ganglion spirale cochleae. These morphological changes together with the recent findings of high concentrations of vitamin A in Corti's organ support the hypothesis that the acoustic sensory receptors contain of functionally depend upon vitamin A.