Figure 8.

NAC protection against Cd²⁺ damage in sections of cochlear explants from rats. (A) Sections of explants from apical, middle, and basal turns of rat cochlea incubated with Cd²⁺ alone or Cd²⁺ + NAC and stained with TRITC-conjugated phalloidin. NAC treatment showed a protective effect against the Cd²⁺ toxic effect. (B) Sections of basal turns of cochlea explants stained with TRITC-conjugated phalloidin (red), DAPI (blue), and TUNEL (green) and examined at a magnification of 100×. In (A) and (B), bar = 50 μm. (C) Percentages of TUNEL-positive cells in different groups of cells.

*p < 0.05 compared with untreated control explants. ^#p < 0.05 compared with Cd²⁺ alone.