In a wide variety of mammals, the rim of the tympanic membrane (annulus fibrosus) has an array of contractile elements, either smooth muscle [Henson and Henson, J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryngol. 1 (2000) 25-32] or myofibroblasts [Kuijpers et al., Hear. Res. 128 (1999) 80-88]. These elements are anchored peripherally to the bony tympanic ring and centrally to incoming fibers of the pars tensa. Their arrangement suggests that they are involved in the control of tympanic membrane tension. In this study, cochlear microphonic (CM) threshold changes were recorded in gerbils to study the physiological effects of these contractile elements. It was demonstrated that the application of substances known to make smooth muscle contract (vanadate and norepinephrine) caused concentrationdependent elevations in CM thresholds. Maximum changes of 8-9 dB occurred with the lowest frequency tested (2.16 kHz). The application of muscle-relaxing drugs reversed these effects. Controls showed that the threshold changes were not induced by effects on middle or inner ear structures. These results add to emerging evidence that the tympanic membrane has intrinsic control of tension and is potentially able to have some control over energy levels reaching the cochlea.

Previous studies have shown that: (1) raphe neurons respond to acoustic and vestibular stimuli, some with a latency of 10-15ms; (2) alterations of the raphe nuclei alter the acoustic startle reflex; (3) the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) is the major source of serotonergic neurons; and (4) approximately 57% of the DRN neurons are nonserotonergic. In the present study, cholera toxin subunit-B (CTB) was injected into cat cochleas, and the brain tissue was examined after a survival period of 5-7 days. Aside from neurons which were known to project to the inner ear, i.e., olivocochlear and vestibular efferent neurons, a surprising new finding was made that somata of a subpopulation of DRN neurons were intensely labeled with CTB. These CTB-labeled neurons were densely distributed in a dorsomedian part of the DRN with some in a surrounding area outside the DRN. The present results suggest that a novel raphe-labyrinthine projection may exist. A future study of anterograde labeling with injections of a tracer in the DRN will be needed to establish the existence of a raphe-labyrinthine projection more thoroughly. A raphe-labyrinthine descending input, together with an ascending input from the inner ear to the DRN through intervening neurons, such as the juxtaacousticofloccular raphe neurons (JAFRNs) described by Ye and Kim, may mediate a brain stem reflex whereby a salient multisensory (including auditory and vestibular) stimulus may alter the sensitivity of the inner ear. As a mammal responds to a biologically important auditoryvestibular multisensory event, the raphe projections to the inner ear and other auditory and vestibular structures may enhance the mammal, sability to localize and recognize the sound and respond properly. The raphe-labyrinthine projection may also modulate the inner ear, s sensitivity as a function of the sleep–wake arousal state of an organism on a slower time course.

目的 为探讨丹参对庆大霉素耳毒性的减毒作用。方法 将24只沙鼠分为4组，每组6只，①生理盐水对照组。②丹参组（SA）。③庆大霉素加丹参组（GM+SA）。④庆大霉素组（GM）。所有药物均经肌肉注射，CN组和GM+SA组每天注射庆大霉素150mg/kg，共10d；GM+SA组和SA组同时注射丹参2g/kg，共10d；生理盐水组每天注射生理盐水2ml/kg，共10d。在注射前和注射后4周和8周进行CAP检测，第8周听力测定后处死动物行扫描电镜检查。结果 4周和8周GM组高频CAP阈明显上升，而GM+SA组听阈明显低，统计学处理有显著差异（P<0.01，t检验）；GM组毛细胞损伤率底圈和第二圈分别为35%和30%，GM+SA组分别为9%和7%，差异非常显著（P<0.01，t检验）。结论 丹参能明显降低庆大霉素对沙鼠的耳毒性作用，且不降低血液中庆大霉素的浓度。电生理检测结果与形态学变化一致。

目的 探讨中缝背核（dorsal raphe nucleus, DRN）至内耳的传出神经投射通路。方法 将霍乱毒素亚单位B（cholera toxin subunit-B, CTB）注入猫的内耳，经过7天的存活期后，运用逆行荧光标记技术来观察猫脑干组织中DRN神经元的分布及形态学特征。结果 大部分DRN神经元有CTB的强阳性标记，且集中分布在DRN的背中线部分，部分分布在DRN外侧的周边区域。结论 在中缝核至内耳可能存在传出神经通路，它们可能对哺乳动物对声音的定位、识别、对声音正确的反应能力以及内耳敏感性调节有重要意义。

为探讨内耳辐射损伤的防治，采用丹参作为保护药物，用相同剂量的60Coγ射线照射丹参防护组和单纯放射组豚鼠耳颞部，2周后作形态与机能检查。结果发现：丹参防护组耳蜗机能与结构损害较轻，而单纯放射组耳蜗机能明显受损，血管纹和柯替氏器病变严重；复合动作电位（CAP）反应阈和毛细胞损伤率两组比较差异有显著性（P<0.01）。表明丹参对内耳辐射损伤有保护作用。

目的：探讨T3期扩大喉部分切除和喉全切除术的疗效。方法：于1984年1月至1996年5月对112例T3期喉癌的临床资料进行回顾性分析，其中行扩大喉部分切除术48例（单纯手术29例，手术加放疗19例）；喉全切除术64例（单纯手术39例，手术加放疗法25例）。结果：喉部分切除术组和喉全切除术组3年和5年生存率分别为77.1%、66.7%和97.7%、71.1%；各组单纯手术和手术加放疗的3年和5年生存率比较，喉部分切除组分别为75.7%、65.0%和78.9%、69.2%；喉全切除组分别为81.2%、71.4%和76.0%、70.6%，各组3年和5年生存率均无显著性差异（P>0.05）。结论：T3期喉癌只要掌握好喉部分切除术的适应证，其疗效与喉全切除术接近；术后放疗不能减少局部和颈部癌复发的危险。