The vomeronasal organ in the human embryo, studied by means of three‐dimensional computer reconstruction

Sherwood, Rebecca; McLachlan, John C.; Aiton, James F.; Scarborough, Julie

doi:10.1046/j.1469-7580.1999.19530413.x

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Nonetheless, the present study and others (e.g. Bossy, 1980 ;Kreutzer and Jafek, 1980 ;Sherwood et al 1999) agree that this primordium of the vomeronasal organ is present in embryos ranging from 8 to 20 mm CRL.…”

Section: supporting

confidence: 85%

“…The recent resurgence of interest in the human VNO has clearly yielded new information, but has also added a list of contradictory findings. Does the human VNO grow prenatally (Smith et al 1996(Smith et al , 1997Sherwood et al 1999) and persist in adults (Ishimitsu, 1958 ;Chouard et al 1972 ;Moran et al 1991Moran et al , 1995Smith et al 1998) or does it degenerate prenatally (Nakashima et al 1985 ; ? Do adult human VNOs have receptor-like cells (Moran et al 1991 ;Takami et al 1993) or are receptor cells lost during fetal development (Ortmann, 1989 ;Boehm & Gasser, 1993) ?…”

Section: mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The human vomeronasal organ. Part II: prenatal development

Smith

Bhatnagar

2000

Journal of Anatomy

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During the 20th century, the human vomeronasal organ (VNO) has been controversial regarding its structure, function, and even identity. Despite reports that provide evidence for its presence throughout prenatal and postnatal ontogeny, some studies and numerous textbooks declare its absence in late fetal and postnatal humans. To that end, the present study was designed to establish firmly whether the human VNO is homologous with that of other mammals and whether it degenerates (partially or completely) or persists throughout prenatal development. Fifty human embryos and fetuses (33 d to 32 wk fertilisation age) and 2 neonates were examined by light microscopy. Four embryonic primates (mouse lemurs) were examined for a comparison of VNO embryogenesis. The presence or absence and structural characteristics of the VNO and supporting tissues are described. The first appearance of the VNO was in the form of bilateral epithelial thickenings of the nasal septum, the vomeronasal primordium. The primordia invaginated between 37 and 43 d of age and formed the tubular VNO. The tubular VNO was located dorsally at a variable distance from, but was always spatially separated from the paraseptal cartilages. The mouse lemurs examined in this study and other reports from the literature indicate that the human VNO resembles that of primates having functional VNOs until just after a tubular VNO is formed. Examination of the VNO and adjacent tissues suggested that the VNO may lose receptor cells and corresponding vomeronasal nerves and become a ciliated, pseudostratified epithelium between " 12 and 14 wk of age. Our findings indicate the prenatal human VNO goes through 3 successive stages : early morphogenesis, transformation (of the epithelium), and growth. These observations indicated that (1) all embryonic humans develop a vomeronasal organ which is homologous with the VNOs of other mammals, but which has become displaced and highly variable in relative location during embryogenesis ; (2) the human vomeronasal organ does not degenerate prenatally, but very likely loses the functional components of the vomeronasal complex of other mammals ; and (3) the remnant of the human VNO persists until birth and beyond.

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Section: supporting

confidence: 85%

Section: mentioning

confidence: 99%

The human vomeronasal organ. Part II: prenatal development

Smith

Bhatnagar

2000

Journal of Anatomy

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“…Earlier, we investigated the prenatal development of the human VNO and determined that it is present at all stages, and corroborated the reports of Johnson et al (1985) and Sherwood et al (1999). We report here our findings concerning the frequency, morphology and possible function of the VNO in humans from infancy to the 9th decade in life.…”

supporting

confidence: 92%

The human vomeronasal organ. III. Postnatal development from infancy to the ninth decade

Bhatnagar

Smith

2001

Journal of Anatomy

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The large literature on the human vomeronasal organ (VNO) offers little consensus as to its persistence in the adult. We have already documented the existence of the VNO from embryonic day 33 through the neonatal stages. This has now been extended to human adults : 27 cadaver nasal septa, aged 2-86 y, were either dissected or decalcified, serially sectioned, stained and examined. The consistent presence of the VNO is reported as a homologue, in the form of a duct-like structure on the nasal septum at all ages. Also reported are size variability, pronounced bilateral asymmetry, a nonchemosensory pseudostratified ciliated epithelium with considerable structural variation and generally without medial-lateral differentiation, nasal septal glands opening into the VNO lumen, a lack of correlation between postnatal age and VNO size, visualisation of the human VNO with certainty by histological means alone, and a minute opening as its only visible surface feature. The human VNO is a discrete structure that should not be confused with the nasopalatine fossa, the septal mucosal pits or VNO openings.Key words : Human VNO ; postnatal development ; adult VNO dimensions ; VNO homologue. To comparative anatomists, the vomeronasal organ (of Jacobson, VNO) holds a fascinating place in vertebrate ontogeny and phylogeny (Jacobson, 1811(Jacobson, , 1813Ko$ lliker, 1877 ; Potiquet, 1891 ;Chouard et al. 1972 ;Bhatnagar & Reid, 1996 ;Trotier et al. 1996 ;Keverne, 1999 ;. Although the human VNO has been investigated for over 200 years, much confusion and many inaccuracies have been perpetuated as to its persistence, identification, location, size, morphology and function (Nakashima et al. 1985 ;Garcia-Velasco & Mondragon, 1991 ;Boehm & Gasser, 1993 ; GarciaVelasco & Garcia-Casas, 1995 ;Berliner et al. 1996 ;Kjaer & Fischer-Hansen, 1996 ;Jahnke & Merker, 1998, 2000 Monti-Bloch et al. 1998 a, b ;Won et al. 2000 ; Zbar et al. 2000). Textbooks of human embryology and gross anatomy (Hamilton & Mossman, 1972 ;Goss, 1972 ;Williams et al. 1995 ; Correspondence to Dr Kunwar Bhatnagar, Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Health Sciences Center, Louisville, KY 40292, USA. Tel. : 001 502 852 5174 ; fax : 001 502 852 6228 ; e-mail : bhatnagar!louisville.edu Sadler, 2000) have either described the VNO incorrectly or stated that it is not present in the human adult. In addition, investigators including GarciaVelasco & Mondragon (1991), Takami et al. (1993), Berliner et al. (1996, Monti-Bloch et al. (1998 a, b), Grosser et al. (2000) and Jahnke & Merker (1998, 2000 have drawn conclusions concerning the physiology and pharmacology for a structure they probably misidentified as the human VNO in the living subject. Our studies indicate that the erroneously reported location and attributes of the VNO have created confusion.Earlier, we investigated the prenatal development of the human VNO and determined that it is present at all stages, and corroborated the reports of Johnson et al. (1...

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“…During ontogeny, it originates from the medial wall of the nasal pit (Garrosa et al, ). The development of the mammalian VNO has been studied by several authors: Taniguchi et al () in golden hamster; Taniguchi and Taniguchi () in Syrian hamster; Tarozzo et al () in mouse; Sherwood et al () in humans; Salazar et al () in sheeps; Takigami et al () in goats; and Garrosa et al () in rats. The mammalian OE is situated at the dorsal and caudal part of the nasal cavity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunohistochemical and lectin histochemical studies on the developing olfactory organs of fetal camel

Ibrahim

Taniguchi

Yamamoto

et al. 2015

Microscopy Res & Technique

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Little is known about the development of the olfactory organs of camel. In this study, prenatal development and neuronal differentiation of the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and the olfactory epithelium (OE) of the one-humped camel were studied by immunohistochemistry and lectin histochemistry. A neuronal marker, protein gene product (PGP) 9.5, but not a marker of fully differentiated olfactory receptor cells, olfactory marker protein, intensely labeled the olfactory receptor cells of the VNO and OE at 395 mm, 510 mm, and 530 mm fetal ages, indicating that the olfactory receptor cells are differentiated, but not fully matured both in the VNO and the OE. In 187 mm and 190 mm fetuses, PGP 9.5 yielded faint immunoreactive signals in the VNO, but not in the OE, although the presence of olfactory receptor cells were demonstrated in both tissues by intense WGA and LEL stainings. We conclude that the camel VNO and OE bear differentiated, but still immature receptor cells; in addition, the onset of neuronal differentiation seems to be somewhat earlier in the VNO than in the OE till half of the prenatal life.

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The vomeronasal organ in the human embryo, studied by means of three‐dimensional computer reconstruction

Cited by 11 publications

References 15 publications

The human vomeronasal organ. Part II: prenatal development

The human vomeronasal organ. Part II: prenatal development

The human vomeronasal organ. III. Postnatal development from infancy to the ninth decade

Immunohistochemical and lectin histochemical studies on the developing olfactory organs of fetal camel

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