Evidence for Accessory Chemosensory Cells in the adult Human Nasal Cavity

Publication date: Available online 23 December 2019Source: Journal of Chemical NeuroanatomyAuthor(s): Veronika M. Gebhart, Andrea Rodewald, Enrico Wollbaum, Kay Hertel, Thomas Bitter, Gustav F. JirikowskiAbstractThe existence of functionally relevant accessory olfactory organs in humans is still a matter of controversy. A vomeronasal organ (VNO) with sensory and non-sensory epithelia exists only in macrosmatic mammals. A similar structure is regularly observed in humans during fetal development. The postnatal persistence of a VNO like epithelial duct has been described in about 10%. Here we studied tissue samples of nasal mucosa from adults. In all individuals we found epithelial cells in the lower part of the nasal septum which exhibited morphological features of sensory neurons and which showed immunostaining for olfactory marker protein OMP. These cells were interposed by ciliated cells, goblet cells and small intraepithelial capillaries. Only occasionally we found such cells within a morphologically defined epithelial duct. A clear separation of sensory and non-sensory epithelia could not be observed. In most cases we found OMP positive groups of cells either in epithelial cavities or just embedded in respiratory epithelium. With RT-PCR we could confirm the presence of OMP encoding mRNA thus supporting the idea of intrinsic expression of this protein in the nasal mucosa. We conclude that accessory chemosensory structures are regularly conserved in adult humans in the appr...
Source: Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research