An evaluation of normal strial capillary transport using the electron-opaque tracers ferritin and iron dextran

Case Report: Auditory Neuropathy and Central Auditory Processing Deficits in a Neuro-Otological Case-Study of Infratentorial Superficial Siderosis

Hearing and balance impairment are the most frequently reported features of infratentorial (classical) superficial siderosis (iSS). There are few comprehensive descriptions of audiovestibular function in iSS and therefore limited understanding of the affected segment(s) of the audiovestibular pathway. In addition, monitoring disease progression and response to treatment is challenging and currently mainly guided by subjective patient reports and magnetic resonance imaging. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no previous reports assessing central auditory function in iSS. We describe such findings in a patient with iSS in an attempt to precisely localize the site of the audiovestibular dysfunction, determine its severity and functional impact. We confirm the presence of (asymmetrical) auditory neuropathy and identify central auditory processing deficits, suggesting involvement of the central auditory pathway beyond the brainstem. We correlate the audiological and vestibular findings with self-report measures and the siderosis appearances on brain magnetic resonance images.

Compartmentalized vesicular traffic around the hair cell cuticular plate

Through thin-section and freeze-fracture electron microscopy, we identify structural correlates of an intense vesicular traffic in a narrow band of cytoplasm around the cuticular plate of the bullfrog vestibular hair cells. Myriads of coated and uncoated vesicles associated with longitudinally oriented microtubules populate the narrow cytoplasmic region between the cuticular plate and the actin network of the apical junctional belt. If microtubules in the sensory hair cells, like those in axons, are pathways for organelle transport, then the characteristic distribution of microtubules around the cuticular plate represents transport pathways across the apical region of the hair cells. This compartmentalized membrane traffic system appears to support an intense vesicular release and uptake along a band of apical plasma membrane near the cell border. Functions of this transport system may include membrane recycling as well as exocytotic and endocytotic exchange between the hair cell cytoplasm and the endolymphatic compartment.

Transport of glucose across the blood-tissue barriers

In specialized parts of the body, free exchange of substances between blood and tissue cells is hindered by the presence of a barrier cell layer(s). Specialized milieu of the compartments provided by these "blood-tissue barriers" seems to be important for specific functions of the tissue cells guarded by the barriers. In blood-tissue barriers, such as the blood-brain barrier, blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier, blood-nerve barrier, blood-retinal barrier, blood-aqueous barrier, blood-perilymph barrier, and placental barrier, endothelial or epithelial cells sealed by tight junctions, or a syncytial cell layer(s), serve as a structural basis of the barrier. A selective transport system localized in the cells of the barrier provides substances needed by the cells inside the barrier. GLUT1, an isoform of facilitated-diffusion glucose transporters, is abundant in cells of the barrier. GLUT1 is concentrated at the critical plasma membranes of cells of the barriers and thereby constitutes the major machinery for the transport of glucose across these barriers where transport occurs by a transcellular mechanism. In the barrier composed of double-epithelial layers, such as the epithelium of the ciliary body in the case of the blood-aqueous barrier, gap junctions appear to play an important role in addition to GLUT1 for the transfer of glucose across the barrier.

Influence of chronic kanamycin administration on basement membrane anionic sites in the labyrinth

We studied the effect of chronic treatment with kanamycin on the basement membrane (BM) anionic sites in the cochlea and endolymphatic sac using polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a cationic tracer. Albino guinea pigs weighing 250-300 g received kanamycin (400 mg/kg/day, i.m.) for 10 or 17 consecutive days. The number of BM anionic sites as derived from the PEI area was not affected in Reissner's membrane, spiral prominence, basilar membrane or endolymphatic sac, whereas it was significantly decreased in the stria vascularis and spiral limbus, being more marked in the guinea pigs treated for 17 days than in those treated for 10 days. The number of BM anionic sites in these regions did not recover until 6 weeks after kanamycin treatment. These findings suggest that chronically administered kanamycin may selectively and progressively affect the BM anionic sites in the stria vascularis and spiral limbus, resulting in disruption of a barrier function in the cochlea, and that severely impaired BM anionic sites in the cochlea may not recover.

Immunohistochemical localization of brain type glucose transporter in mammalian inner ears: comparison of developmental and adult stages

Inner ears from five mammalian genera were examined immunohistochemically with a rabbit polyclonal antiserum against the brain type glucose transporter (GLUT1). Vascular endothelial cells distributed widely in soft tissues of the cochlea and vestibular system in all five genera showed uniform immunostaining. The basal cell layer of the stria vascularis also contained GLUT1 in all genera, and in the guinea pig, the strial marginal cells reacted as well. GLUT1 was expressed in satellite cells surrounding spiral ganglion neurons but only in the gerbil and cat. In the developing inner ear of the gerbil, endothelial cells expressed GLUT1 at 2 days after birth, the earliest stage examined. Immunoreactive transporter also was detected at this time in cells lying under strial marginal cells and interpreted as immature basal cells. Satellite cells acquired affinity for GLUT1 antibody between days 12 and 16 after birth. The expression of GLUT1 by the various cell types correlates well with their structural and functional maturation. GLUT1 apparently plays a role in glucose transport in the inner ear where it mediates efflux from blood vessels into perilymph. It also appears to facilitate uptake of glucose by the stria vascularis from interstitial fluid via the basal cell layer and, in some species, by spiral ganglion neurons through satellite cells.

Protein profiles of perilymph and endolymph of the guinea pig

Results of protein separation of guinea pig plasma, perilymph, and endolymph by means of high-resolution two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis are presented. Several proteins are present in perilymph at levels in basic accord with the total protein gradient with respect to plasma; however, others are present in perilymph at levels comparable to plasma levels, and one protein low molecular weight protein, PLS:33, is eight times higher. In addition, a high molecular weight protein is shown to be present at similar levels in the two compartments. These findings indicate that ultrafiltration cannot be the sole mechanism of perilymph production. Endolymph proteins are uniformly five to eight times lower than perilymph levels, essentially following the total protein concentration gradient between the two compartments. This supports the view that endolymph is derived from perilymph rather than directly from blood.

A ferritin-containing cell type in the stria vascularis of the mouse inner ear

This report describes a new cell type within the stria vascularis of the mouse inner ear. The cell is similar ultrastructurally to the classically described intermediate cell. However, it can be distinguished by the presence of dense vacuoles, presumably lysosomes, within which can be visualized electron dense particles resembling ferritin molecules. In addition, the ferritin-like particles are present throughout the cytoplasm and occasionally within the endoplasmic reticulum. These cells characteristically abut capillary basal lamina. Electron probe analysis of the dense vacuoles revealed the presence of iron. It is suggested that these cells may sequester iron released from dying erythrocytes in the strial capillary system, whereupon the iron is conserved through ferritin synthesis.

Cell volume density alterations within the stria vascularis after administration of a hyperosmotic agent

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an intravenous injection of a hyperosmotic agent (mannitol) on the volume density (Vv) of the primary components of the stria vascularis (SV). Chinchillas received either a 2.0 g/kg injection of mannitol or an equal volume of saline as a control. At 1, 10 and 60 min after the injection, the right cochleas were fixed with osmium tetroxide and prepared for transmission electron microscopy. At a distance of 70% from the cochlear apex, the complete radial area of the SV was photographed and stereologically analyzed. Additional animals received mannitol or bumetanide for the purpose of measuring serum osmolality and the endocochlear potential (EP). The present results showed elevation of serum osmolality after mannitol but not after bumetanide and depression of the +EP after bumetanide but not after mannitol. Vv alterations of SV components after mannitol were similar to those Vv changes observed in a previous study, after bumetanide. After treatment with either diuretic, the Vv of the marginal cells decreased and the Vv of the intermediate cells and intercellular spaces increased. We conclude that since the Vv alterations of the SV components are so similar after both diuretics, none of these alterations is a morphological correlate of a depressed +EP which was observed after bumetanide. A model of the action of mannitol on the SV is proposed.

Cochlear Vessel Permeability to Horseradish Peroxidase in the Normal and Acoustically Traumatized Chinchilla: A Reevaluation

A method involving incubation of intact cochleae using the small protein, horseradish peroxidase, has revealed that a barrier exists between the blood and the stria vascularis. This barrier is more tenuous than the barrier that exists across other cochlear vessels. The stria — strial vessel barrier can be altered physiologically by acoustic trauma or artifactually by dissection.

Distribution of HRP in the inner ear after injection into the middle ear cavity

The distribution patterns of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) reaction products in the inner ears of guinea pigs were studied after injections into the middle ear cavities and perilymphatic and subarachnoid spaces. The normal round window membrane resisted HRP penetration from the middle ear side, but when it became pathological after repeated applications, its permeability increased. HRP deposits were found in the cochlear and vestibular sensory cells and in the lumen of the endolymphatic sac. HRP reaction products were minimal at the cochlear apex even after long survival times, suggesting that perilymph flow, if it exists, is rather weak toward this direction. Whereas the stria vascularis is impermeable to HRP, the vestibular dark cells were accessible; thus, the metabolic activity of the dark cells can be more readily controlled by drug applications through the middle ear cavity. The finding of HRP deposits on the scala vestibuli surface of Reissner's membrane and the absence of HRP in the upper portion of the spiral ligament at the basal turn suggests that the oval window is a secondary route of passage for these particles from the middle ear cavity to the inner ear. In order to determine the route of HRP into the endolymphatic sac from the middle ear cavity or scala tympani, the cochlear and/or vestibular aqueducts were obliterated singly or together. The route of HRP was determined to be the vestibular aqueduct. HRP is believed to enter the sac lumen through Reissner's and saccular membranes and the sac epithelium. Drugs and other large molecular substances instilled in or gaining access to the middle ear cavity may reach the endolymphatic sac causing its functional alteration.

Alteration of strial capillary transport in kanamycin-treated guinea pigs

Ferritin transport through the strial capillary during kanamycin intoxication was examined under a transmission electron microscope. Twelve guinea pigs were treated intramuscularly with kanamycin (400 mg/kg/day) for 2-3 weeks. When full hearing loss was recognized by estimating the Preyer reflex or auditory brain-stem response (ABR), ferritin was given intravenously and animals were sacrificed 1/3, 1, and 2 h later. At 1/3 h, ferritin was present diffusely not only in the endothelial cell but also in the basal lamina and within vesicles in the strial cell. Alternatively, it was discharged into the endolymphatic space. At 2 h, ferritin was seen on the luminal surface and in the cytoplasm of the endolymphatic cells of Reissner's membrane. These results suggest that the basal lamina of the strial capillary was altered qualitatively by kanamycin administration.

Fine structure and permeability of capillaries in the stria vascularis and spiral ligament of the inner ear of the guinea pig

The blood capillaries in the stria vascularis and the spiral ligaments of guinea pigs were studied by electron microscopy with freeze-fracture and thin section methods, including tracer experiments with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and microperoxidase (MP). The endothelial cells of the capillaries of both tissues are connected by tight junctions, and contain about the same number of micropinocytotic vesicles. In cases of intravascular administration before fixation, both of the tracers stained the perivascular space and almost all endothelial vesicles in the stria vascularis. On the other hand, the perivascular space and many vesicles in the spinal ligament were unstained. The endothelial tight junctions in the stria vascularis prevented the penetration of HRP, but sometimes allowed the penetration of MP. Those of the spiral ligament were impermeable to both tracers. In cases of tracer administration after fixation, leakage spots of HRP from capillaries were sparsely located all over the stria vascularis. Transendothelial channels and isolated fenestrae formed by micropinocytotic vesicles were detected. It is concluded that the capillaries of the stria vascularis are similar to the muscle capillaries and to the capillaries of the elasmobranch brain, whereas those in the spiral ligament are similar to the brain capillaries of higher vertebrates.

Evidence for a perilymphatic origin of the endolymph: application to the pathophysiology of Ménière's disease

The origin of the endolymph was elucidated by kinetic studies of the entry of water and electrolytes into endolymph and perilymph after intravenous administration of radioactive tracers in rats. The compartmental analysis of the data and the comparison of this study with the results of Konishi and associates (Acta Otolaryngol (Stockh) 86, 22-34 and 176-184, 1978), using perilymphatic perfusion of tracers, indicate that perilymph rather than plasma may be considered the precursor of endolymph. Since the cochlear epithelium was found to be freely permeable to water, an alteration of electrolyte transportation across the membranous labyrinth may be involved in the pathophysiology of Ménière's disease. Chloride transport across the cochlear epithelium was investigated using acetazolamide, a specific carbonic anhydrase inhibitor.

Electron microscopy of the stria vascularis and its response to etacrynic acid. A study using electron-dense tracers and extracellular surface markers

Lanthanum nitrate (La3+), ruthenium red (RR) and tannic acid (TA) have been used to examine the cell coat and permeability pathways in thin sections of the stria vascularis of normal and etacrynic-acid (EA)-treated guinea pigs. The tight junctions around the stria, at both endolymphatic and spiral ligament sides, excluded tracers even when EA-associated oedema was well advanced. La3+ was also unable to enter oedematous stria from the capillaries. A dense fibrillar coat was revealed on the endolymphatic marginal cell surface. This coat was disorganised during EA intoxication. Both RR and TA crossed the apical membrane and produced enhanced contrast in some, but not all, marginal cells in EA-treated animals. The results suggest that EA may affect the structure of the apical membrane of the marginal cells and that there is heterogeneity amongst the marginal cell population. These possibilities are discussed.