Corrective effects of thyroxine on cochlear abnormalities induced by congenital hypothyroidism in the rat. I....

In order to study the corrective effects of thyroxine on the cochlear abnormalities induced by congenital hypothyroidism, small doses of thyroxine were injected in propylthiouracil-treated rat pups for 2 consecutive days during selected periods of development (days 3 and 4, 6 and 7, 9 and 10, 12 and 13, 18 and 19). Some animals also received thyroid replacement therapy from days 12 to 17. Corrective effects of thyroxine on cochlear structures were observed using light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The corrective effects not only depended on the period of administration of the hormone, but also on the structure investigated within the organ of Corti. For a given structure, a period of maximal sensitivity to thyroxine exists which corresponds to the period of development during which that structure undergoes its main morphological changes (i.e. from 6 to 13 days for the inner sulcus epithelium, the first postnatal week for the tectorial membrane, from 6 to 10 days for the pillars and the tunnel of Corti, the second and probably a part of the third postnatal week for outer hair cell synaptogenesis).