Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: As per a new study conducted by researchers odour receptors were found in human lung tissue.
Till now it was believed that olfactory receptors could only be found inside the nose but this study spotted two olfactory receptors in human lung tissue.
When researchers from Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany activated these receptors, they found that they regulated the way in which the airways smooth muscle cells contracted.
Contraction of smooth muscle changes the size of our airways, suggesting that this research, published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology, may open new avenues for treating chronic breathing disorders -- such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis -- that constrict and obstruct the airways.
Working with human smooth muscle cells, Benjamin Kalbe and his colleagues applied a large number of odour molecules and watched two of them activate the muscle cells.
The researchers also determined how activating the receptors with the odour molecules affected the isolated smooth muscle cells.
In their experiment, the researchers explored the impact of activating the receptors with a compound called amyl butyrate.
The study showed that the compound had different effects on the receptors.
(With IANS inputs)
