Effect of submandibular salivary gland removal on body weight, plasmatic testosterone levels, testicular weight and spermatogenesis in rats.

In this work we report the effect of the removal of submandibular salivary glands (S.S.G.) on plasmatic testosterone levels and other aspects of testicular function and on body weight in rats. Our results were obtained with 72 male rats weighing 230-260 g whose S.S.G. were removed. At only twenty days after removal a slight but significant decrease (p less than 0.05) of testicular absolute weight (3.431 +/- 75 mg vs 3.612 +/- 53 mg) was detected. This decrease was probably due to atrophy of interstitial tissue, as revealed by histological examination. In contrast, neither plasmatic testosterone (T) levels nor spermatogenesis (S.P.G.) were altered. The effect on testicular weight at twenty days was not closely associated with the effect on body weight. Changes in this latter parameter were observed twenty days after extirpation of S.M.G. (107 +/- 5.5 vs 124 +/- 4.3 g; p less than 0.02) and up until forty days (175.6 +/- 4.1 g vs 202.8 +/- 5.5; p less than 0.05) after S.S.G. removal. Difference in gain of body weight is not influenced by nutritional lack, as shown by the fact that nutritional absorption is not modified in the operated animals controlled in wire bottom cages. These data suggest that S.S.G. right play a trophic regulatory role, separately, on testes and body without the mediation of T. The direct involvement of biological peptides contained in S.S.G. is discussed.