Nasogenital Relationship: III, Some Aspects of Sexual Function in Female Rats Deprived of Sphenopalatine Ganglia

Abstract

The study of the nasogenital relationship has revealed the production of pseudopregnancy in the female rat following silver nitrate applications to the nasal mucosa and following local anesthetization of the nasal mucosa. The bilateral removal of the sphenopalatine ganglia in adult female rats is followed by pseudopregnancy. This condition is characterized by the persistence of leucocyte cell smears of the vaginal contents, by persistent corpora lutea in the ovary, and by decidual cell reactions to traumatizing of the uterine mucosa. The duration of this state ranges from 8 to 24 days, after which time the regularity of the 4-5 day cycle is resumed. The present report embodies findings from the study of certain sexual functions in female rats which have been deprived of their sphenopalatine ganglia. Series I: The time of vaginal opening in immature rats from which the sphenopalatine ganglia had been removed, was studied in 30 animals. The ganglia were removed from rats ranging in age from 23 to 40 days. This is considerably before the normal time for establishment of the vaginal orifice. Fifty-six littermate controls were given the same care and handling as were the experimental animals, except for the surgical removal of the ganglia. The findings relative to the age and weight of the rats at the time of establishment of the vaginal opening reveal no significant difference in time of vaginal opening between normal and operated animals; mean age and body weight of experimental animals was 54.2±7.8 days and 99.7±14.8 g, and for the control animals the mean age and body weight was 51.8±6.1 days and 98.9±8.2 g. Series II: The reproductive capacity of rats without sphenopalatine ganglia was tested in 17 cases by matings with virile males.