Figure 2.

Pathological changes revealed by Hoechst 33342 staining (×400). (a) Control and (b–d) 1, 4, and 14 days after noise exposure, respectively. ↑ = Nuclear swelling: increased nuclear volume and reduced staining (as shown in e), fx1 = karyopyknosis: shrunken nucleus and enhanced staining (as shown in f), q = nuclear loss: original position of nucleus replaced by a blank area (as shown in g). (h) Quantitative analyses of OHC damage. The percentages of three pathological changes in OHC at different times were analyzed by using the one-way ANOVA. *P < 0.01, between percentage of apoptotic and necrotic cells