Vitamin A deficiency and sensory function.
Morphological investigation of tongue, olfactory epithelia, trachea and inner ear in vitamin A deficiency are reported. The results support assumptions concerning the loss of sensory function as been at least a secondary effect of alterations of the neighbourhood of the sensory cells caused by vitamin A deficiency. Taste buds are hindered in function by a dense layer of squamous cells and olfaction is decreased by atrophy of the surrounding respiratory epithelium. Inner ear functionality seems to be affected by vitamin A status via a stabilizing effect on the endolymph-perilymph barrier.
D000818:Animals; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D006309:Hearing; D006801:Humans; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D012679:Sense Organs / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013649:Taste; D014059:Tongue / Q000473:pathology; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*