MHC-correlated odour preferences in humans and the use of oral contraceptives

Autor: Vaughan Carter, L. Morris Gosling, S. Craig Roberts, Marion Petrie
Rok vydání: 2008
Předmět:
Male
Genotype
Offspring
media_common.quotation_subject
Population
Physiology
Fertility
Choice Behavior
General Biochemistry
Genetics and Molecular Biology
Major Histocompatibility Complex
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Gene Frequency
human leukocyte antigen
Body odour
medicine
smell
Humans
heterozygosity
Longitudinal Studies
mate choice
education
030304 developmental biology
General Environmental Science
media_common
0303 health sciences
education.field_of_study
Analysis of Variance
General Immunology and Microbiology
General Medicine
Preference
Mate choice
England
Pill
Immunology
Odorants
behavior and behavior mechanisms
Female
Analysis of variance
medicine.symptom
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Psychology
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Contraceptives
Oral
Research Article
olfaction
Zdroj: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
ISSN: 0962-8452
Popis: Previous studies in animals and humans show that genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) influence individual odours and that females often prefer odour of MHC-dissimilar males, perhaps to increase offspring heterozygosity or reduce inbreeding. Women using oral hormonal contraceptives have been reported to have the opposite preference, raising the possibility that oral contraceptives alter female preference towards MHC similarity, with possible fertility costs. Here we test directly whether contraceptive pill use alters odour preferences using a longitudinal design in which women were tested before and after initiating pill use; a control group of non-users were tested with a comparable interval between test sessions. In contrast to some previous studies, there was no significant difference in ratings between odours of MHC-dissimilar and MHC-similar men among women during the follicular cycle phase. However, single women preferred odours of MHC-similar men, while women in relationships preferred odours of MHC-dissimilar men, a result consistent with studies in other species, suggesting that paired females may seek to improve offspring quality through extra-pair partnerships. Across tests, we found a significant preference shift towards MHC similarity associated with pill use, which was not evident in the control group. If odour plays a role in human mate choice, our results suggest that contraceptive pill use could disrupt disassortative mate preferences.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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