Otic lesions and congenital hypothyroidism in the developing chick.

In an effort to elucidate the relation, if any, between thyroid abnormality and congenital deafness in Pendred's syndrome, an experiment was designed to study the effects of hypothyroidism on middle and inner ear hearing structures, including the auditory nerve and its central projection, in developing chick embryos. Propylthiouracil (PTU), 2 mg, was injected into the albumin of fertile chick eggs on the 10th incubation day. Single doses of L-thyroxine (range 1-100mug) were inoculated in a similar manner, either alone or with PTU. Control inocula included sterile saline or water. After hatching, each chick was examined for obvious malformations. The thyroid glands, middle and inner ear mechanisms, auditory nerve, and brainstem were studied grossly and with different histologic staining techniques. When compared to controls, chicks exposed to PTU on their 10th incubation day exhibited: increased mortality, delayed hatching, reduced size, incomplete yolk sac absorption, and death within 5 days unless exogenous thyroid hormone was provided in the first 24-48 hr after hatching. Specific, consistent, morphologic alterations were observed in their thyroid glands as well as in the sensory hair cells of the acoustic papilla and cells of the spiral ganglion of the cochlea. Our data also indicate that if 50-75 mug of L-thyroxine is given simultaneously with (or as long as 120 hr after) the PTU injection on the 10th incubation day, one cannot detect the gross defects, marked thyroid lesions, or abnormal histology in cells of the cochlea and its ganglion. A relationship between embryonic thyroid gland function and the hearing mechanism of the chick embryo is suggested.