Effects of Nasal Obstruction on Hormonal and Immune Functions in Wistar Rats

Olfaction occurs in many areas such as reproduction, diet, social behavior, or the detection of predators. In order to know if the absence of olfaction could disrupt mammalian endocrine and immune functions, bilateral nasal obstruction (NO) was induced in young rats of the Wistar strain at the 8th postnatal day. Its consequences were examined 24 hours after the treatment (D9), at the end of the obstruction period (D15) and six days after the reopening of the nostrils (D21). Samples of the biological extracts were taken and our results show that the NO causes a stress which would disturb the development of the individual. At the endocrine level, the NO causes hormonal modifications which are generally more marked in the females (increase in the rate of ACTH). At the level of the immune system, NO leads to a decrease in the number of circulating leukocytes and lymphocytes. For the rat, nasal obstruction is therefore a multifactorial stressful situation.