From Nose to Lumbar Spinal Cord; Reduced Sperm Numbers occur by Olfactory Bulbectomy-releted Onuf's Nucleus Degeneration; New Experimental Evidence for Kallmann Syndrome

Introduction: Olfaction and its relation to human health is an area of growing interest. Although olfaction disorders have been considered a part of Kallmann Syndrome, the role of olfactory dysfunction on spermatogenesis has not been studied yet. We studied if olfactory bulbectomy causes dysfunction in spermatogenesis as a result of Onuf's nucleus damage. Methods: Twenty-eight male rats were divided into three groups: six as the control (G-1; n=6), six as the only frontal burr-hole applied animals SHAM (G-1I; n=6), and 16 as the study group (G-III; n=16) in which OBX was performed. The animals were followed for two months. After the decapitation of the animals, olfactory bulb (OB) volumes (mm3), the neuron density of the Onuf nucleus (n/mm3), and sperm density (n/mm3) were estimated stereologically, and analyzed. Results: Olfactory bulb volumes (mm3), degenerated neuron density of Onuf's nucleus (n/mm3), and sperm numbers of control, SHAM, and study groups were estimated as: 4 & PLUSMN;0.5; 6 & PLUSMN;2 and 103.245 & PLUSMN;10.841 in G-I; 3.5 & PLUSMN;0.7; 14 & PLUSMN;4 and 96.891 & PLUSMN;9.569 in G-II and 1.3 & PLUSMN;0.3; 91 & PLUSMN;17 and 73.561 & PLUSMN;6.324 in GIII. The statistical results of degenerated neuron density of Onuf's nucleus and sperm numbers between groups are as p<0.005 for GI/GII; p<0.0005 for GII/GIII and p<0.00001 for G-I/G-III. Discussion/Conclusion: This study first time indicates that Onuf's nucleus degeneration secondary to OBX seems to be responsible for reduced sperm numbers.