Odor detection ability and thallium-201 transport in the olfactory nerve of traumatic olfactory-impaired mice.

Although olfactory nerve damage is a contributing factor in the diagnosis of posttraumatic olfactory loss, at present, there are no methods to directly assess injury to these nerves. We have shown that following olfactory nerve injury in mice, thallium-201 (201 Tl) transport from the nasal cavity to the olfactory bulb decreases. To determine if olfactory function after nerve injury could be assessed with nasal administration of 201 Tl, we measured the correlation between odor detection ability (ODA) and the rate of transport of 201 Tl in olfactory nerves. Both ODA and 201 Tl transport were measured after bilateral olfactory nerve transection for a 4-week period. Cycloheximide solution was used for ODA against tap water. 201 Tl transport was measured as the ratio of radioactivity in the nasal cavity and olfactory bulb with gamma spectrometry. There was a significant correlation between ODA and the rate of 201 Tl transport in the olfactory nerve. These findings suggest that olfactory function after nerve injury can be objectively evaluated with the nasal administration of 201 Tl.