Significant improvement of the olfactory regeneration by the VEGF and PDGF growth factors treatment

Anosmia due to large-scale olfactory nerve damage from skull base surgery is an important problem for human health that significantly influences physical wellbeing, quality of life, and life-expectancy in those affected. Therefore, there is a need to find a treatment for anosmia. The VEGF and PDGF growth factor treatments have improved regeneration of the CNS after injury. Therefore, we have tested the roles of the combined growth factors in improvement of olfactory regeneration in mice. The degeneration of the murine olfactory neurons was induced by unilateral surgical removal of the olfactory bulb. The animals were randomly divided into two groups: the treatment animals group received 0.5 μg of the combined growth factors and the control animals received PBS. Combined growth factor and PBS was intranasally administered over three days, and tissues were harvested from the two groups at different time points post-surgery and histological techniques were used for analysis.\ud \ud We have found that olfactory regenerating axons projected significantly deeper to the brain in the treatment group compared to the control group at day 10 and 14 (p < 0.05) and the thickness of the olfactory epithelium was significantly increased after 10 days post- surgery in the treatment group (p < 0.05).\ud \ud The results indicate that the combined delivery of VEGF and PDGF growth factor treatments has improved regeneration of olfactory neurons in this murine model and has the potential to restore the sense of smell in humans with anosmia