Morphological Study of the Effects of Olfactory Bulb Transplants after Complete Spinal Cord Transection / 대한해부학회지

ABSTRACT

In the olfactory bulb, normal and transected olfactory axons are able to enter, regenerate, and reestablish lost synaptic contacts with their targets, throughout the lifetime of the organism. It was expected that studies of olfactory bulb ensheathing glia will provide important advances for the field of neural regeneration. Purpose of this study is to analyze morphologically the effects of olfactory bulb transplants into the cord after complete transection. Forty Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. Spinal cord of the rats were transected after laminectomy followed by insertion of chopped olfactory bulb tissues immediately and 3 weeks after the operation. In this study, transplants of olfactory bulb were successfully used to promote functional and structural recovery after complete spinal cord transection. The area of damaged spinal cord was greatly diminished after olfactory bulb transplantation. Nearly normal anterior horn cells were observed immediately distal to the transected region. Tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive descending fibers were observed in the distal region beyond transected area.