Antigonadal actions of olfactory and light deprivation. I. Effects of blindness combined with olfactory bulb deafferentation, transection of vomeronasal nerves, or bulbectomy.

Olfactory bulbectomy is known to potentiate the antigonadal effects of light deprivation. However, the physiological interpretation of the effects of bulbar ablation is complex, since it simultaneously implies sequelae like: a) the loss of olfactory sensitivity (anosmia), b) the suppression of the accessory olfactory system (AOS), and c) the suppression of nonsensorial functions of the bulbs. To study the participation of these three mechanisms in the effects of bulbectomy + light deprivation, we compared, in 28-day-old male rats, the effects of olfactory bulb deafferentation (peripheral anosmia) with those induced by either olfactory bulbectomy or blocking the AOS, alone or associated with blindness. As compared to the intact or blinded animals, both blinded deafferented (EA) and blinded bulbectomized (EB) rats showed various reductions in weights of body, testes, accessory sexual glands, and prostates; serum testosterone levels were also depressed. Testes of EA rats showed various degrees of alterations in spermatogenesis. The only difference between EA and EB groups was in the pituitary weight, significantly lower in EA rats.