gender differences in myogenic regulation along the vascular tree of the gerbil cochlea性别差异在肌原性的调节血管树的沙鼠耳蜗.pdfVIP

Gender Differences in Myogenic Regulation along the Vascular Tree of the Gerbil Cochlea 1 1 2 1 Katrin Reimann , Gayathri Krishnamoorthy , Withrow Gil Wier , Philine Wangemann * 1 Anatomy Physiology Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, United States of America, 2 Physiology Department, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America Abstract Regulation of cochlear blood flow is critical for hearing due to its exquisite sensitivity to ischemia and oxidative stress. Many forms of hearing loss such as sensorineural hearing loss and presbyacusis may involve or be aggravated by blood flow disorders. Animal experiments and clinical outcomes further suggest that there is a gender preference in hearing loss, with males being more susceptible. Autoregulation of cochlear blood flow has been demonstrated in some animal models in vivo, suggesting that similar to the brain, blood vessels supplying the cochlea have the ability to control flow within normal limits, despite variations in systemic blood pressure. Here, we investigated myogenic regulation in the cochlear blood supply of the Mongolian gerbil, a widely used animal model in hearing research. The cochlear blood supply originates at the basilar artery, followed by the anterior inferior cerebellar artery, and inside the inner ear, by the spiral modiolar artery and the radiating arterioles that supply the capillary beds of the spiral ligament and stria vascularis. Arteries from male and female gerbils were isolated and pressurized using a concentric pipette system. Diameter changes in response to increasing luminal pressures were recorded by laser scanning microscopy. Our results show that cochlear vessels