PMID- 24753944
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
DCOM- 20140624
LR  - 20211021
IS  - 2032-0418 (Print)
IS  - 2032-0418 (Linking)
VI  - 5
IP  - 3
DP  - 2013
TI  - Pheromones and their effect on women's mood and sexuality.
PG  - 189-95
AB  - Pheromones are substances which are secreted to the outside by an individual and 
      received by a second individual of the same species. Many examples exist in 
      animals but their role in humans remains uncertain since adults have no 
      functioning vomeronasal organ, which processes pheromone signals in animals. Yet 
      pheromones can be detected by the olfactory system although humans under develop 
      and underrate their smelling sense. Pheromones may be present in all bodily 
      secretions but most attention has been geared toward axillary sweat which 
      contains the odorous 16-androstenes. One of these steroidal compounds, 
      androstadienone, is present at much higher concentrations in male sweat and can 
      be detected by women, albeit with wide variation in sensitivity. Upper-lip 
      application of a pharmacological dose of androstadienonein women results in 
      improved mood and heightened focus - particularly to capture emotional 
      information. A positive mood is known to facilitate women's sexual response, and 
      -increased focus improves sexual satisfaction. Indeed, some studies showed a 
      beneficial effect of androstadienone on sexual desire and arousal. However, these 
      effects were dependent on the context of the experiment, for example, on the 
      presence of a male attendant. Pheromones may also play a role in mate selection 
      which is "disassortative" regarding the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-genotype. 
      Preliminary evidence suggests that exposure to androstadienone in women promotes 
      attractiveness ratings of potential mates. In conclusion, some data indicate that 
      16-androstene pheromones, in particular androstadienone, play a beneficial role 
      in women's mood, focus and sexual response, and perhaps also in mate selection.
FAU - Verhaeghe, J
AU  - Verhaeghe J
AD  - Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, KU Leuven, Campus -Gasthuisberg, 
      Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
FAU - Gheysen, R
AU  - Gheysen R
AD  - Institute for Family and Sexuality Studies, KU Leuven, Campus -Gasthuisberg, 
      Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
FAU - Enzlin, P
AU  - Enzlin P
AD  - Institute for Family and Sexuality Studies, KU Leuven, Campus -Gasthuisberg, 
      Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Review
PL  - Belgium
TA  - Facts Views Vis Obgyn
JT  - Facts, views & vision in ObGyn
JID - 101578773
PMC - PMC3987372
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Androstadienone
OT  - mate selection
OT  - pheromones
OT  - sexual response
EDAT- 2013/01/01 00:00
MHDA- 2013/01/01 00:01
PMCR- 2013/01/01
CRDT- 2014/04/23 06:00
PHST- 2014/04/23 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2013/01/01 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2013/01/01 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 2013/01/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Facts Views Vis Obgyn. 2013;5(3):189-95.