Hair cell regeneration in the adult budgerigar after kanamycin ototoxicity.

Adult budgerigars were given kanamycin at a dose of 200 mg/kg/day for 10 successive days. At 1, 7, 14 and 28 days after the drug treatment, the cochleae of the birds were processed for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Complete degeneration of sensory hair cells was observed in the basal 55-75% of the basilar papilla immediately after the treatment. Regenerating hair cells, characterized by clusters of microvilli and small apical surfaces, were present in the basal end of the papilla as early as one day post-treatment. During the 28 day recovery period, the number of hair cells progressively increased beginning at the base and spreading toward the apex. Although the appearance of the basilar papilla had improved considerably by 28 days post-treatment, the sensory epithelium still contained a number of pathologies, most noticeably, incomplete restoration of hair cell number in the most apical part of the damaged region and the disorganization of hair cell packing. These remaining pathologies may be responsible for the permanent threshold shifts observed in budgerigars exposed to the same dose of kanamycin treatment (Hashino and Sokabe, 1989).