The morphologic effects of histamine on the lateral cochlear wall.

The chinchilla lateral cochlear wall (stria vascularis, spiral ligament, and spiral prominence) was examined by morphologic and histochemical techniques following various doses of intravenous histamine. The three main findings were as follows: (1) the basic ultrastructure was not altered by histamine; (2) there is a time- and dose-dependent change in the rate of stria vascularis vessel permeability to a small protein tracer (horseradish peroxidase), but the mode of transport (large pore system) is unchanged; and (3) glycogen depletion in stria marginal cells occurs with its apparent mobilization into stria intercellular spaces.