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Physiol Behav

Title:		Dual role of preputial gland secretion and its major components in sex recognition of mice
Author(s):		Zhang JX; Liu YJ; Zhang JH; Sun L;
Address:		"State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents in Agriculture, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Datun Road, Beijing 100101, China. zhangjx@ioz.ac.cn"
Journal Title:		Physiol Behav
Year:		2008
Volume:		20080708
Issue:		3
Page Number:		388 - 394
DOI:		10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.07.002
ISSN/ISBN:		0031-9384 (Print) 0031-9384 (Linking)
Abstract:		"This study was aimed at validating the sexual attractiveness of hexadecanol and hexadecyl acetate, two putative pheromone compounds, from preputial gland secretion of mice. These two compounds have been reported to be among the major components of preputial gland secretion in both sexes but higher in quantity in males than females. In this study, we show that castration suppressed the production of the two compounds, further suggesting their association with maleness. Adding preputial gland secretion and the synthetic analogs of the two compounds to castrated male urine at their physiological levels in intact males increased the attractiveness of castrated male urine to female mice, showing that the two compounds were indeed male pheromones. Furthermore, their sexual attractiveness disappeared upon removing the vomeronasal organs (VNOs) from female recipients. Replenishing castrated male urine with preputial gland secretion and the two compounds at their physiological levels in females increased the attractiveness of castrated male urine to males. Such a reversal of sexual attractiveness for hexadecanol and hexadecyl acetate suggests that they had opposing dual effects in sexual attractiveness in a dosage-dependent manner"
Keywords:		"Animals Behavior, Animal Castration/methods Female Male Mice Mice, Inbred ICR Recognition, Psychology/*physiology Scent Glands/injuries/*metabolism Sex Attractants/metabolism/urine *Sex Characteristics Sex Factors Sexual Behavior, Animal/drug effects/*phy;"
Notes:		"MedlineZhang, Jian-Xu Liu, Ying-Juan Zhang, Jin-Hua Sun, Lixing eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2008/07/29 Physiol Behav. 2008 Oct 20; 95(3):388-94. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.07.002. Epub 2008 Jul 8"