[Morphofunctional research on the olfactory organ of the mouse after zinc sulfate exposure]

Correlation between morphological and functional changes appearing in mice olfactory epithelium following its destruction by ZnSO4 solution was studied. The EOG registration and olfactory epithelium morphometry have shown the intensity of the damaging effect and the rate of regenerative processes in the epithelium to depend on the concentration of the solution used. After the olfactory epithelium treatment with 1% solution of ZnSO4 the EOG amplitude and the thickness of the olfactory epithelium almost reached their normal value by the end of one month, while with solutions of higher concentrations only the beginning of regenerative processes was observed during the same term. The capacity to generate EOG lagged behind morphological regenerative processes. The action of higher concentrations (3 and 5%) of ZnSO4 was accompanied by more prolonged lagging.