title: Swelling of Erectile Nasal Tissue Induced by Human Sexual Pheromone.
abstract: Most chemically mediated sexual communication in humans remains uncharacterized. Yet the study of sexual communication is decisive for understanding sexual behavior and evolutive mechanisms in our species. Here we provide the evidence to consider 4,16-androstadien-3-one (AND) as a man's sexual pheromone. Our experiment provides support for the physiological effect of AND on nasal airway resistance (Rna) in women, as assessed by anterior rhinomanometry. We found that AND administration increased the area of turbinate during the ovulatory phase, resulting in an increase of Rna. Thus, we discovered that minute amounts of AND, acting through neuroendocrine brain control, regulate Rna and consequently affect the sexual physiology and behavior. Fascinatingly, this finding provides the evidence of the preservation of chemosexual communication in humans, which it has been largely neglected due to its unconscious perception and concealed nature. Therefore, chemical communication is a plesiomorphic evolutive phenomenon in humans.
authors.affiliation: Physiology and Physiopathology Section, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science, University of Chieti-Pescara 'G. d'Annunzio', Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazzatenta
authors.affiliation: Physiology and Physiopathology Section, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science, University of Chieti-Pescara 'G. d'Annunzio', Chieti, Italy.|Clinica Villa del Sole, Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.affiliation: Physiology and Physiopathology Section, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science, University of Chieti-Pescara 'G. d'Annunzio', Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Tano
authors.affiliation: Physiology and Physiopathology Section, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science, University of Chieti-Pescara 'G. d'Annunzio', Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cacchio
authors.affiliation: Physiology and Physiopathology Section, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science, University of Chieti-Pescara 'G. d'Annunzio', Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Giulio
authors.affiliation: Public Higher Medical Professional School in Opole, 68 Katowicka St., 45-060, Opole, Poland. m_pokorski@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Mieczyslaw
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pokorski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000403:Airway Resistance / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000730:Androstadienes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009666:Nose / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D049049:Pheromones, Human / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000730:Androstadienes; D049049:Pheromones, Human; C003524:4,16-androstadien-3-one
keywords: Androstadienone; Human chemosexual communication; Human pheromone; Nasal airway resistance; Pheromone; Rhinomanometry; Turbinate swells