Response to short photoperiod and spontaneous sexual recrudescence in the lesser mouse lemur: role of olfactory bulb removal

Abstract

ABSTRACT The body weight and sexual activity of the male lesser mouse lemur, a prosimian primate, undergo cyclic changes that are photoperiod-dependent. Exposure to long daylength (LD; 14 h light/day) led to sustained sexual activity, fully developed testes and high plasma testosterone concentrations (228 ±25 nmol/l, n = 10). After 14 weeks under LD, a marked decrease in testosterone levels occurred. Gonadal regression was completed within 20 weeks under LD without concomitant changes in body weight. Exposure to short daylength (SD; 8 h light/day) reinforced the sexual quiescence and was associated with a high ponderal gain (from 60 to 110 g). However, independent of the date of gonadal arrest, the sexual activity of males spontaneously resumed at a fixed time after exposure to SD. The testes developed, testosterone concentrations increased to 155 nmol/l and the body weight decreased (from 110 to 80 g) within 20 weeks under SD exposure. The timing for refractoriness appeared very similar under inhibitory and stimulatory photoperiods. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the perception of a critical daylength is used to regulate the timing of the following sexual phase through a mechanism involving photorefractoriness. Contrary to cricetid rodents, a direct response to photoperiodic signals for both body weight and sexual activity were not prevented by olfactory bulb removal in male mouse lemurs. In bulbectomized males (n = 12), sexual activity was stimulated by LD and inhibited by SD. Their plasma testosterone levels, however, significantly differed from those of controls in both photoperiods. Likewise, ponderal cycles remained intact but the fattening phase was delayed and reduced. Finally, whereas the sexual recrudescence of bulbectomized males occurred under SD with a delay of only 2–4 weeks, spontaneous testicular regression under exposure to LD did not appear in our experimental photoperiodic conditions. Journal of Endocrinology (1993) 137, 511–518