The Impact of Toxicants on the Olfactory System

Min, Yang Gi; Kim, Jeong Whun

Abstract

The olfactory system is valuable in the study of some general properties of neural system and it provides as an excellent model for studying the effects of environmental toxicants on the sensory system. For example, the olfactory receptor neuron has become an important neurobiologic model system in the area of molecular and cell biology for the study of neuronal plasticity and neuronal development, including the developmental steps of cell birth and lineage, differentiation, synaptogenesis, migration, maturation, and death. The olfactory neuroepithelium is characteristic of neuron replacement and regeneration throughout life. Olfactory receptor neurons are rapidly replaced following traumatic lesions and they are the only known projection neurons with this property. Various toxicants put the olfactory system at risk for damage. Toxic agents comprise part of health hazard to human olfaction. However, the direct and indirect effects of these agents on the olfactory system are not completely understood.