title: A competitive effect of androgen signaling on male mouse attraction to volatile female mouse odors.
abstract: Olfaction plays an important role in animal communication. We hypothesized that males recognize the attractive volatile odors attributed to female reproductive ability. We measured the period during which a male mouse spent sniffing volatile odors from a sham-operated female mouse or an ovariectomized mouse without visual or tactile contact. Intact male mice spent more time sniffing volatile odors from proestrous, estrous or metestrous females than from ovariectomized females. There was no difference in castrated male mice. To investigate the involvement of sexual hormone in this behavior, castrated male mice were treated with 17 alpha-estradiol (E), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), or both. E-treatment did not affect sniffing behavior. Regardless of the estrous stages, DHT-treated castrated males spent less time sniffing the volatile odors from sham-operated than from ovariectomized female mice. Both E- and DHT-treated castrated males spent less time sniffing the volatile odors from proestrous or estrous females than from ovariectomized females. These results suggest that neither androgen nor estrogen is sufficient for reproducing male attraction to volatile female mouse odors, and that androgen signaling has a competitive effect against the attraction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathogenetic Veterinary Science, The United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan. s09038@st.obihiro.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoshikage
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Muroi
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Seiichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Komori
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishimura
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000728:Androgens / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D021461:Animals, Outbred Strains; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D004958:Estradiol / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D012724:Sex Attractants; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone; D004958:Estradiol