Olfactory mucosa/air partitioning of odorants.

The present study evaluates the contribution of the receptor cell compartment to the total mucosal odorant uptake. Using radioactive odorants, partition coefficients for normal bullfrog olfactory mucosa were compared to the partition coefficients from mucosa in which the receptor cells had been removed by cutting one of the olfactory nerves and allowing two weeks for complete degeneration. For the more water-soluble odorants (butanol and isobutyric acid), both sides sorbed the same amount of odorant, suggesting that the mucosal uptake mostly reflects uptake by the water in the mucosa. For the less water soluble odorants (octane and amyl acetate), the uncut side did sorb significantly more odorant than the cut side.