Brain Advance Access originally published online on September 22, 2009
Brain 2009 132(11):3096-3101; doi:10.1093/brain/awp243
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Increasing olfactory bulb volume due to treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis—a longitudinal study
1 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, (‘Technische Universität Dresden’), Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany 2 Radiation Research in Oncology, University of Dresden Medical School, Germany 3 Department of Neuroradiology, University of Dresden Medical School, Germany 4 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
Correspondence to: Volker Gudziol MD, Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School (‘Technische Universität Dresden’), Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany E-mail: volker.gudziol{at}uniklinikum-dresden.de
Differentiation of progenitor cells into neurons in the olfactory bulb depends on olfactory stimulation that can lead to an increase in olfactory bulb volume. In this study, we investigated whether the human olfactory bulb volume increases with increasing olfactory function due to treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis. Nineteen patients with chronic rhinosinusitis were investigated before and after treatment. For comparison, additional measurements were performed in 18 healthy volunteers. Volumetric measurements of the olfactory bulb were based on planimetric manual contouring of magnetic resonance scans. Olfactory function was evaluated separately for each nostril using tests for odour threshold, odour discrimination and odour identification. Measurements were performed on two occasions, 3 months apart. In healthy controls, the olfactory bulb volume did not change significantly between the two measurements. In contrast, the olfactory bulb volume in patients increased significantly from the initial 64.5 ± 3.2 to 70.0 ± 3.5 mm³ on the left side (P = 0.02) and from 60.9 ± 3.5 to 72.4 ± 2.8 mm³ on the right side (P < 0.001). The increase in olfactory bulb volume correlated significantly with an increase in odour thresholds (r = 0.60, P = 0.006, left side; r = 0.49, P = 0.03, right side), but not with changes in odour discrimination or odour identification. Results of this study support the idea that stimulation of olfactory receptor neurons impacts on the cell death in the olfactory bulb, not only in rodents but also in humans. To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study that describes an enlargement of the human olfactory bulb due to improvement of peripheral olfactory function.
Key Words: olfaction; smell; brain plasticity; sensory system; sinus surgery
Received June 11, 2009. Revised August 10, 2009. Accepted August 17, 2009.
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V. Gudziol and T. Hummel Reply to: Increased olfactory bulb volume due to treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis: neuroinflammation and adult neurogenesis Brain, December 9, 2009; (2009) awp311v1. [Full Text] [PDF]
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