Role of the Pelvic Nerve vs. the Abdominal Sympathetic Nerves in the Reproductive Function of the Female Rat1

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Abstract
The anatomy of the pelvic nerve (nervus erigens, pelvic parasympathetic nerve) is described for the rat. This nerve carries the afferents responsible for the induction of pseudopregnancy since the animals did not respond to mechanical cervical stimuli or to mating stimuli after bilateral pelvic neurectomy. However, the fertile eggs produced by such mating implanted normally, and developed to term fetuses when these neurecto-mized animals were made pseudopregnant by administration of a single injection of reserpine (1 mg/kg) on Day 1. These neurecto-mized animals were unable to deliver their litters spontaneously. Massive deciduoma formation could be elicited in pseudopregnant pelvic-neurectomized animals. The prolongation of pseudopregnancy, known to accompany this growth, did not occur, however. This suggests that the deciduoma-bearing uterus extends the pseudopregnancy by a neurogenic stimulus rather than by a hormonal one. Extensive abdominal sympathectomy was compatible with all phases of pregnancy, from activation of corpora lutea through and including normal parturition.