Estrus effect

Fadem B.H. (1989). The effects of pheromonal stimuli on estrus and peripheral plasma estradiol in female gray short-tailed opossums. Biol Reprod 41, 213-217. 

Ma W., Miao Z. and Novotny M. (1998). Role of the adrenal gland and adrenal-mediated chemosignals in suppression of estrus in the house mouse the Lee-Boot effect revisited. Biol Reprod 59, 1317-1320. 

Meek L., Lee T Rogers E. and Hernandez R. (1994). Effect of vomeronasal organ removal on behavioral estrus and mating latency in female meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Biol Reprod 51, 400-404. 

Data suggestive of adverse reproductive effects after an assumed acute oral exposure to organophosphate ester hydraulic fluids are restricted to an observation of reduced lactation and delayed estrus with no coincident gross lesions in cows that ingested grass contaminated with Fyrquel 150 (Beck et al. 1977). 

Hudson, R., Melo, A.I. and Gonzalez-Mariscal G. (1994) Effect of photoperiod and exogenous melatonin on correlates of estrus on the domestic rabbit. J. Comp. Physiol. A 175, 573-593. 

These effects have names associated with their discoverers the induction of estrus in adult females by males is known as the Whitten effect the acceleration of puberty in immature females by males is known as the Vanderburgh effect. Perhaps you can work these terms into the conversation at your next cocktail party. People may be impressed. 

The list of pheromone controls on reproductive behavior can be extended female pheromones inhibit estrus in adult females and delay puberty in juvenile females, Lee-Boot effect male pheromones can block pregnancy, Bruce effect pheromones from dominant females can suppress reproduction in subordinate females and so on. Have a look at Wyatt s book for an abundance of examples. 

Lee-Boot effect inhibition of estrus in adult females or delay of puberty in juvenile females by female pheromones. 

The VNO is extremely important in mediating endocrine responses to primer pheromones. Puberty acceleration in female rats by male urine odors can be prevented by electrolytic damage to the vomeronasal nerve. Also, effects of male urine odor such as shortening of the estrus cycle (see Ch. 8) can be eliminated by section of the vomeronasal nerve, or bilateral electrocoagulation of the accessory olfactory bulb (Sanchez-Criado, 1982). In rats, the odor of males stimulates ovulation in females, an effect that is lost if the VNO is extirpated (Johns etal., 1978). Female prairie voles, M. ochrogaster, respond to odors from males with reproductive activation. Surgical removal of the VNO from adult females impedes this reproductive activation by the stud male. The weights of the uterus and the ovaries of these females were lower than those of normal or sham-operated individuals. However, the females without a VNO were still able to locate food by chemical cues (Lepri and Wysocki, 1987). 

Some effects depend on more than the urine stimulus. Reproductively naive females of the prairie vole, M. ochrogaster, do not cycle spontaneously. They need a male for stimulation. If male urine is applied to the nares, the uterus weight increases threefold within 24 hours. However, urine alone is not sufficient to induce behavioral estrus as well. This requires pairing with an unfamiliar male. Even though male urine and bedding soiled by males can induce behavioral estrus in some females, most require actual contact with a male (Carter eta/., 1980,1986). 

Female mice have volatile components in their urine that are depressed after adrenalectomy. Six components have been detected, of which three (2-heptanone, trans-5-h. ptea-l-one., and tra 5-4-hepten-2-one) have no apparent effects either as a group or when added to the other three components. The active three components are w-pentyl acetate, m-2-penten-l-yl acetate, and 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (Fig. 8.3). If 2,5-dimethylpyrazine is painted daily on the external nares of young female mice from day 21 on, the time of the first vaginal estrus is delayed. These three compoimds act in redimdant fashion the two acetate esters delay vaginal estrus by 1.5 days, on average 2,5-dimethylpyrazine alone delays it by 2.4 days, and a mixture of all three delays it by 1.7 days. (Novotny et a /., 1986a). 

In grouped female mice ovulation and estrus are suppressed (Champlin, 1971) and pseudopregnancies occur (van der Lee and Boot, 1955). The odor of crowded female mice (eight per cage) inhibited ovulation in other females. The hormonal control of this effect has been difficult to explain. Early studies indicated that ovariectomized mice were not able to inhibit other females but in other studies, ovariectomized females still inhibited estrus in other females (Marchlewska-Koj, 1990). 

Voided or bladder urine from single wild house mice also inhibited estrus cycles in females. These two types of urine reduced the normal rate of 2.4 cycles per female in 18 days to only 1.66 and 2.00, respectively. Urine from spayed females was not effective (Pandey and Pandey, 1986). 

Urine odor of adult males induces and synchronizes estrus cycles in adult female mice (Whitten, 1958). The cycles grow shorter and more regular when a male is nearby. A male shortens cycles of 7-8 days to 4-5 days. Exposure to male urine for 48 hours has the same effect. This phenomenon is known as the Whitten effect. The estrus-inducing activity of male urine is retained even after storage at -4 °C or freeze-drying (Gangrade and Dominic, 1986). This has... 

The estrus-synchronizing effect of adult male urine described for female rats has puzzled investigators. Recent experiments and more sophisticated statistical analysis have indicated that apparent synchronization may be actually chance (Schank, 2001). 

In a later experiment, two pheromones from axillary odor of young women influenced the estrus cycle of other women (Stern and McClintock, 1998). Armpit secretion that appears odorless to humans was applied daily between the upper lip and nose of healthy young women and had two opposite effects depending on the menstrual phase of the odor donors. Secretion from nine donor women, collected on pads in their armpits during the follicular phase of their cycles... 

During the Second World War, women in the Netherlands had to resort to eat tulip bulbs. They blamed their frequent menstmal upsets and ovulation failures on this diet. Harborne (1993) listed garlic, oats, barley, rye grass, coffee, sunflower, parsley, and potato tubers as having effects on estrus in women, but also cows. The active principle may not be a hormone but rather compounds that... 

Gangrade, B. K. and Dominic, C. J. (1986). Effect of storage and lyophilization on estrus-inducing capacity of male mouse urine. Indian Journal ofExperimental Biology 24,728-729. 

Chlordecone is thought to produce some of its reproductive outcomes by mimicking the effects of excessive estrogens. The ability to cause constant estrus and other estrogen-like effects has been repeatedly confirmed in rodents. ... 

Reproductive effects in animals have included reduced implantation rate and prolonged estrus in rats and prolonged menstruation and decreased fertility in monkeys. In male rats and mice gestational or lactational exposure can adversely affect sperm morphology and production. Comparison of the reproductive histories of 200 women exposed to PCBs during the production of capacitors with the histories of controls showed only a slight relationship between estimated PCB levels in serum and decreased birth weight. ... 

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