PMID- 17407681
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070510
LR  - 20161020
IS  - 1471-1893 (Print)
IS  - 1471-1893 (Linking)
VI  - 33
IP  - 2
DP  - 2007 Apr
TI  - Is 3alpha-androstenol pheromone related to menstrual synchrony?
PG  - 116-8
AB  - BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY: The ovarian cycles of females living and interacting 
      together may synchronise due to pheromones released from axillary secretary 
      glands, the highest concentration of which is produced in the mid-follicular 
      phase, prior to ovulation. The objective of this study was to find evidence for 
      menstrual synchrony in a group of female students living together and to obtain a 
      correlation between the ability to smell the putative pheromone, 
      5alpha-androst-16-en-3alpha-ol (3alpha-androstenol), found in apocrine secretions 
      and menstrual synchrony. This cross-sectional study involved 88 students who 
      completed a standard questionnaire and whose sense of smell was measured using 
      ten varying thresholds. The menstrual history, friendship scale and menstrual 
      hygiene score was determined for the participants. RESULTS: A total of 59.1% of 
      the subjects studied were found to have menstrual synchrony. There was no 
      significant association between menstrual synchrony and smelling threshold. 
      However, a significant correlation was found between menstrual synchrony and 
      personal hygiene score (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The phenomenon of menstrual 
      synchrony may be related to various factors. The results failed to demonstrate 
      any significant difference between synchronised and non-synchronised subjects in 
      detecting the steroid by sense of smell. However, the odours associated with 
      menstrual blood or vaginal discharge might have an affect on menstrual synchrony.
FAU - Jahanfar, Shayesteh
AU  - Jahanfar S
AD  - Royal College of Medicine, University of Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Malaysia. 
      Jahanfar2000@yahoo.com
FAU - Awang, Che Haslinawati Che
AU  - Awang CH
FAU - Rahman, Raihan Abd
AU  - Rahman RA
FAU - Samsuddin, Rinni Damayanti
AU  - Samsuddin RD
FAU - See, Chin Pui
AU  - See CP
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - England
TA  - J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care
JT  - The journal of family planning and reproductive health care
JID - 101087687
RN  - 0 (Androstenols)
RN  - 0 (Pheromones)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - *Androstenols
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Menstrual Cycle/*physiology
MH  - *Pheromones
EDAT- 2007/04/05 09:00
MHDA- 2007/05/11 09:00
CRDT- 2007/04/05 09:00
PHST- 2007/04/05 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/05/11 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/04/05 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1783/147118907780254042 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care. 2007 Apr;33(2):116-8. doi: 
      10.1783/147118907780254042.