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AUTHOR(S):

Voznessenskaya V.V., Laktionova T.K.

 

TITLE

Human Axillary Secretions Affect the Length of Menstrual Cycle in Reproductive Age Women and Pre-Menopausal Women

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ABSTRACT

Human male underarm secretions, when applied to women recipients, alter the length and timing of the menstrual cycle. These effects are thought to arise from exposure to primer pheromones that are produced in the underarm. Specific aim of our study was to investigate the influence of male axillary extracts on the length of menstrual cycle of premenopausal women in comparison with women of reproductive age. Total of 43 women, age of 21–51, with known medical history participated in our study. We monitored the length of the menstrual cycle for each test subject for six months before the experiment and followed monitoring for two months after the experiment. We applied axillary extracts/or diluent on the upper lip three times a week for six hours in the morning for duration of nine weeks. Women of 21–44 years old were subdivided into three groups: with menstrual cycle length of 26–32 days (1); menstrual cycles shorter than 26 days (2) and with cycles longer than 32 days (3). Experimental data from women over 45 years old were analyzed separately. Male axillary extracts did not affect significantly length and regularity of menstrual cycle in women with normal and regular cycles (n=12, p> 0.1). At the same time, we observed significantly shorter menstrual cycles (n=12, p< 0.01) under male axillary extracts applications in women with cycles longer than 32 days. For women with menstrual cycle length less than 26 days, we also did not observe statistically significant changes under male axillary extracts treatment (n=9). In premenopausal women male axillary extracts applications caused significant shortening of the menstrual cycle (n=10, p< 0.01) as well as we observed a tendency for more regular cycles for this group of test subjects. Repeated exposures did not cause habituation, and the effect was stable for at least two next cycles after completion of the exposure.

KEYWORDS

chemical communication, reproduction, humans, menstrual cycle, chemical signals, luteinizing hormone

 

Cite this paper

Voznessenskaya V.V., Laktionova T.K.. (2019) Human Axillary Secretions Affect the Length of Menstrual Cycle in Reproductive Age Women and Pre-Menopausal Women. International Journal of Medical Physiology, 3, 12-15

 

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