The olfactory system is a specific area of the central nervous system (CNS) capable of supporting neurogenesis throughout the life of mammals by forming new olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) 1, 2, 3. These neurons are then able to spread axons from the peripheral nervous system of the olfactory epithelium into the CNS environment of the olfactory bulb 4. The capacity of ORNs to stimulate neurogenesis in the adult olfactory system may be due to both the neural stem cells present in the olfactory epithelium and the glial cells known as olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) 5, 6. Olfactory ensheathing cells, originally described by Golgi and Blanes 7, 8, 9 at the end of the 19th century, are a special glial cell population sharing properties with both Schwann cells and the astrocytes 10, 11. Similarly to Schwann cells, OECs express some characteristic markers such as the low affinity neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) and adhesion molecules such as laminin, L1 and N‐CAM; likewise to astrocytes they express the S‐100 protein and the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a member of the intermediate filament family that offers support to glial cells 12, 13.