Effects of sialoadenectomy and castration in female rats

Previous work on the role of the submaxillary glands in the control of the oestrous cycle in rats has been extended to castrated rats in order to avoid the overlapping between sexual and salivary hormones. Animals were sacrificed 30 days after sialadectomy or pseudosialadectomy. The data show that simultaneous castration and sialadectomy increases significantly the glucaemia level and decreases the weight of the adrenal glands. Non-simultaneous castration and removal of the submaxillary glands decreases the weight of the parotid glands. This effect decreases when both actions are simultaneous. On the other hand, castration produces an important decrease in QO2 uptake in tested structures. Removal of submaxillary glands produces a significant increase of QO2 in hypothalamus and thyroid glands. Simultaneous castration and sialadectomy at the anterior cortex, posterior cortex and parotid gland level shows similar results with respect to desalivated rats; other structures show results similar to the castrated group values. From these results, the role played by submaxillary glands in the control of the sexual cycle of the rat and the possible relation to other structures is discussed.