Respiration of the Cochlea and Function

Abstract

Brief reversible depression of cochlear respiration was produced in the guinea pig with 0.013 cc of 0.2 mM sodium cyanide perfused into the scala tympani of the basal turn for 80 seconds. Brief reversible depression of cochlear respiration was also produced by systemic hypoxia (respiration with 5% oxygen). When cyanide perfusion was combined with hypoxia, cochlear respiration and function were more severely effected. The effects of cyanide and hypoxia on the terminal cytochrome oxidase of the respiratory chain of enzymes in mitochondria are reviewed.