title: Shrinkage of ipsilateral taste buds and hyperplasia of contralateral taste buds following chorda tympani nerve transection.
abstract: The morphological changes that occur in the taste buds after denervation are not well understood in rats, especially in the contralateral tongue epithelium. In this study, we investigated the time course of morphological changes in the taste buds following unilateral nerve transection. The role of the trigeminal component of the lingual nerve in maintaining the structural integrity of the taste buds was also examined. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: control, unilateral chorda tympani nerve transection and unilateral chorda tympani nerve transection + lingual nerve transection. Rats were allowed up to 42 days of recovery before being euthanized. The taste buds were visualized using a cytokeratin 8 antibody. Taste bud counts, volumes and taste receptor cell numbers were quantified and compared among groups. No significant difference was detected between the chorda tympani nerve transection and chorda tympani nerve transection + lingual nerve transection groups. Taste bud counts, volumes and taste receptor cell numbers on the ipsilateral side all decreased significantly compared with control. On the contralateral side, the number of taste buds remained unchanged over time, but they were larger, and taste receptor cells were more numerous postoperatively. There was no evidence for a role of the trigeminal branch of the lingual nerve in maintaining the structural integrity of the anterior taste buds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otology and Skull Base Surgery, Eye Ear Nose & Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China ; Shanghai Auditory Medical Center, Shanghai, China ; Key Laboratory of Hearing Science, Ministry of Health, Shanghai, China ; Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Yi-Ke
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Otology and Skull Base Surgery, Eye Ear Nose & Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China ; Shanghai Auditory Medical Center, Shanghai, China ; Key Laboratory of Hearing Science, Ministry of Health, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Juan-Mei
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otology and Skull Base Surgery, Eye Ear Nose & Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China ; Shanghai Auditory Medical Center, Shanghai, China ; Key Laboratory of Hearing Science, Ministry of Health, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Bo
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otology and Skull Base Surgery, Eye Ear Nose & Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China ; Shanghai Auditory Medical Center, Shanghai, China ; Key Laboratory of Hearing Science, Ministry of Health, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Dong-Dong
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Department of Otology and Skull Base Surgery, Eye Ear Nose & Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China ; Shanghai Auditory Medical Center, Shanghai, China ; Key Laboratory of Hearing Science, Ministry of Health, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Fang-Lu
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Chi
keywords: NSFC grants; cytokeratin; gustation; immunohistochemistry; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; taste bud; tongue epithelium; trigeminal nerve disorder