English: "(A) Representative confocal images of whole mounts organ of Corti from the OHCs’ area of the basal region stained with phalloidin (blue; to visualize actin in stereocilia) and filipin (green; to label cholesterol) in control, treated with efavirenz, and treated with efavirenz plus Phy mice. Pink line represents approximately 16 μm, i.e., the width of 2 consecutive OHCs (scale bars = 8 μm). (B) Pixel intensities plot obtained from all the sections (Control: n = 14 cells from 6 animals; efavirenz: n = 12 cells from 6 animals and efavirenz together with phytosterols: n = 28 cells from 6 animals) along the width of 2 consecutive OHCs from each of the 3 rows at the basal region of the cochlea shows that after efavirenz treatment, there was a reduction in cholesterol and a slight increase in filipin staining when supplemented with Phy. Pink line underneath the x-axis represents the width of 2 consecutive OHCs (C) Relative intensity bar graph showing the changes in filipin staining in the 3 groups of mice at the 3 regions of the cochlea (apical, medial, and basal). There was a significant reduction in cholesterol levels after efavirenz treatment. Treatment with efavirenz together with Phy showed an increase in filipin staining at the 3 regions compared with mice treated with efavirenz alone. However, when compared to controls, there was a significant reduction in filipin staining at the 3 regions of the cochlea (Control: n = 80 OHCs at the apical; 140 OHCs at the medial; and 70 OHCs at the basal region from 6 mice; efavirenz: n = 200 OHCs at the apical; 70 OHCs at the medial; and 65 OHCs at the basal region from 6 mice and efavirenz together with phytosterols: n = 92 OHCs at the apical; 115 OHCs at the medial; and 77 OHCs at the basal region from 6 mice). Group means ± SEM are shown. Asterisks represent the statistical significance (one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s test, **** = p < 0.0001). The data underlying this figure can be found at https://osf.io/xpemk/. OHC, outer hair cell; Phy, phytosterols."