title: Impaired sense of smell and altered olfactory system in RAG-1(-∕-) immunodeficient mice.
abstract: Immune deficiencies are often associated with a number of physical manifestations including loss of sense of smell and an increased level of anxiety. We have previously shown that T and B cell-deficient recombinase activating gene (RAG-1)(-∕-) knockout mice have an increased level of anxiety-like behavior and altered gene expression involved in olfaction. In this study, we expanded these findings by testing the structure and functional development of the olfactory system in RAG-1 (-∕-) mice. Our results show that these mice have a reduced engagement in different types of odors and this phenotype is associated with disorganized architecture of glomerular tissue and atrophy of the main olfactory epithelium. Most intriguingly this defect manifests specifically in adult age and is not due to impairment in the patterning of the olfactory neuron staining at the embryo stage. Together these findings provide a formerly unreported biological evidence for an altered function of the olfactory system in RAG-1 (-∕-) mice.
authors.affiliation: William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Queen Mary University of London, UK.
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rattazzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan Milan, Italy ; Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London London, UK.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cariboni
authors.affiliation: William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Queen Mary University of London, UK.
authors.forename: Ridhika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Poojara
authors.affiliation: Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Centre, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shoenfeld
authors.affiliation: William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Queen Mary University of London, UK.
authors.forename: Fulvio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: D'Acquisto
keywords: anxiety; immunodeficiency; immunosuppression; main and accessory olfactory system (MOS and AOS); main olfactory epithelium (MOE); olfactory dysfunction