The morphological observation of adult human mucous membrane has been investigated with the light microscope and T.E.M. Olfactory mucous membrane is separated into epithelium and lamina propria by basement membrane. The lamina propria contains a lot of Bowman's glands. There are many secretory granules in the cytoplasm of Bowman's gland cells. The epithelium consists of supporting cells, olfactory neurons and basal cells. Supporting cells and olfactory neurons contain plenty of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticula in the cytoplasm. The basal cell is attached to the basement membrane, few organelle in the cytoplasm. Transmission electron microscope reveals that adult human olfactory epithelium has three major changes: atypical olfactory vesicle, respiratory metaplasia and mixing of respiratory and olfactory epithelial tissues. The observations provide the new information necessary to understand the physiological mechanism and clinical disorders that affect olfactory function in humans.
Aged Basement Membrane