Pheromone effect

Coureaud, G., Langlois, D., Perrier, G. and Schaal B. (2003) A single key-odorant accounts for the pheromonal effect of rabbit milk Further test of the mammary pheromone s activity against a wide sample of volatiles from milk. Chemoecology 13, 187-192. 

In some cases, commercial use has been made of reproductive pheromonal effects. For example, spraying sows with synthetic 5a-androstenone, a steroid sold under the trade name Boar Mate, helps to ready the animal for mating with a boar. 5a-Androstenone is one of two steroids in the saliva of the boar that primes the sow for mating. 

Species Source and target sex Pheromone Effect Reference... 

McDonough, L. M., Brown, D. F., and Aller, W. C. (1989). Insect sex pheromones. Effect of temperature on evaporation rates of acetates from rubber septa.. Journal of Chemical... 

Conspecific and heterospecific pheromone effects on female receptivity. Animal Behaviour 66,857-861. 

Ovulation inhibition effect. Water, ethanol (95%), and petroleum ether extracts of the seed, administered orally to rabbits at a dose of 100 mg/kg, were inactive . Pheromone effect (sex attractant). Water extract of the root was active on Costelytra zeahmdicaP. ... 

Pheromones are chemical cues, which are released by animals and act on members of the same species to regulate their social interactions and the size of their populations (Halpem and Martinez-Marcos 2003 Brennan and Zufall 2006). Pheromone effects in rodents range from intermale aggression to sexual behaviors and longterm neuroendocrine alterations. Although the original description of a pheromone... 

Hubbard et al. (2002) observed that humic acids might block the pheromonal effects of 17,20p-P in goldfish, probably by adsorbing the molecule. Bjerselius et al. (2001) found that male goldfish exposed to the hormone 17(S-estradiol... 

These aliphatic acids, referred to as copulins, were found originally in rhesus monkey vaginal secretions but their pheromonal effects have been questioned (20,21). 

Payne, A. P., 1977, Pheromonal effects of Harderian gland homogenates on aggressive behaviour in the hamster, J. Endocr. 73 191-192. 

Pheromonal effects of human body secretions have been closely examined in the study of human chemical communication since the 1970s (e.g., McClintock, 1971 Russell et al, 1980 Preti et al., 1987 Weller et al., 1995 Stem and McClintock, 1998). Men s body odor has been shown to regularize women s menstrual cycle (e.g., Cutler et al., 1986). However, attempts to identify the active constituents in complex mixtures of body odors are sporadic. The available publications are mainly focused on steroids (e.g., Cowley and Brooksbank, 1991 Maiworm and Langthaler, 1992 Grammar, 1993) and the results are often ambiguous. Therefore, much has yet to be done to identify active compounds in human body secretions and their effects on women s menstrual cycle. 

One would not expect to see observable releaser pheromone effects in humans, which are primarily behavioral and immediate. Despite the lack of evidence, numerous fragrances, or additives to fragrances, whose advertisements perpetuate the myth that an odor can make one irresistible to members of the opposite sex, have been, or are being sold. Studies conducted over the past two decades present evidence that humans emit primer pheromones, which can alter the length and timing of the menstrual cycle. The human axillae is a likely source of these chemosensory signals. The molecular identity and chemoreceptive and endocrine pathways by which they operate remain to be elucidated. 

The neuroendocrine mechanisms by which human axillary components may exert primer pheromone effects, such as menstrual-cycle alteration, remain to be elucidated. However, when it is identified, this mechanism may provide a bioassay to guide analytical efforts to isolate and identify the active substances. 

Table 2 contains a non-exhaustive list of products that have been and are being marketed as having pheromonal effects. Most allege to have releaser properties despite no hard evidence to back the claims. 

Humans possess rich repositories of odors, one of which, the axillae, has been implicated as the source of semiochemical information. There is, however, no substantial body of evidence to allow one to conclude that releaser-pheromone effects can be ascribed to human odors. While there has been, and undoubtedly will continue to be, a stream of products claiming to use sex attractants and behavior modifiers isolated from humans, the absence of experimental data backing the efficacy of the claims may also be a trademark. Evidence addressing product efficacy may be presented in the form of personal testimonials, magazine/newspaper advertisements or the discoverer s appearance on a T.V. talk-show. Where data on such discoveries has appeared in patents, e.g., the copulin mixture, it can be subjected to an experimental protocol to determine validity. Eventually this will occur with other compounds claimed to be human pheromones and packaged for consumer-purchase caveat emptor). 

In those cases where a long-term physiological semiochemical effect (primer pheromone effect) can be monitored, such problems do not arise. Such an effect (synchronization of estrus) has been assigned to estrous bovine cervical mucus (Izard, 1983). 

Information about sex, reproductive condition and social status is all coded in chemical messages secreted or excreted by members of various species (see contributions in the three previous publications in this series) In addition to their information content, chemicals released by animals also affect physiological responses, and the vomeronasal organ seems to be particularly involved in reception of these chemical signals (pheromones). Many pheromonal effects depend on an intact vomeronasal system (see Table 1) they do not occur or are much reduced if the vomeronasal system of the recipient animal is rendered non-functional. Indeed, the organ has been implicated in the control of reproduction, especially in the onset of sexual... 

Dizinno, G., Whitney, G., and Nyby, J., 1978, Ultrasonic vocalizations by male mice (Mus musculus) in response to a female-produced pheromone Effects of experience, Behav. Biol., 22 104. 

Marchlewska-Koj, A. Male Pheromone Effect on the Enzyme Activity of the Uterus and on the Efficiency of Pregnancy in Mice. Symp. Zool. Soc. London 45, 277-288 (1980). 

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