Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity, assayed spectrophotometrically, was found to be higher in the olfactory bulb (OB) than in other brain areas of adult rats [P. Ninfali, G. Aluigi, W. Balduini, A. Pompella, Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase is higher in the olfactory bulb than into other brain areas, Brain Res. 744 (1997) 138-142]. Histochemical demonstration of G6PD activity in cryostat sections of OB, analyzed with optical microscopy, revealed a marked and well defined line of formazan deposition in the internal part of the glomerular layer (Glm), indicating that G6PD was much higher in cells distributed along the glomeruli. Electron microscope analysis showed that G6PD activity was mainly concentrated in cytoplasm and dendrites of periglomerular cells, the interneurons which span glomeruli and connect olfactory nerves with mitral/tufted cells. Since G6PD regulates the flux through the hexose monophosphate shunt (HMS) pathway, which provides NADPH for reductive biosynthesis and pentose phosphates for nucleic acid formation, it can be concluded that high G6PD activity in periglomerular neurons is functional to their differentiating capability. This result is consistent with the occurrence of structural plasticity events in the OB of adult rats.
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