Spatial distribution of [14C]2-deoxyglucose uptake in the olfactory bulbs of rats stimulated with two different odours.

The uptake of [14C]2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been studied by autoradiography in the olfactory bulbs of control and odour-stimulated rats. The sites of highest 2-DG-uptake coincide very accurately with individual glomeruli. The other bulbar histological layers appear to be far less metabolically affected by the olfactory stimulation. The mapping of the glomerular activation has been compared in two groups of animals stimulated with two different odours. The patterns of selective glomerular 2-DG-uptake are rather similar within each group. They differ from one group to the other by the number and localization of the highly labelled glomeruli. It can be inferred from our observations that a few glomeruli are metabolically highly activated by a strong and pure odour stimulation. A correlation between the quality of the odour and the pattern of glomerular activation may be supposed but has to be confirmed with other compounds.