ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2013
Major histocompatibility complex peptide ligands as olfactory cues in human body odour assessment.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 105 citations in OpenAlex.
- Major histocompatibility complex-associated odour preferences and human mate choice: near and far horizons.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Pooled it
- Female-mediated selective sperm activation may remodel major histocompatibility complex-based mate choice decisions in humans.Heredity · 2025Article
- A Review of Suggested Mechanisms of MHC Odor Signaling.Biology · 2022Review
- The Role of Vision in the Emergence of Mate Preferences.Archives of sexual behavior · 2021Article
- Preen gland microbiota covary with major histocompatibility complex genotype in a songbird.Royal Society open science · 2021Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Impairs Dendritic Cells and Regulates DC-SIGN Gene Expression in Tissues.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- Human olfactory dysfunction: causes and consequences.Cell and tissue research · 2021Review
- Infection threat shapes our social instincts.Behavioral ecology and sociobiology · 2021Review
- Gamete-level immunogenetic incompatibility in humans-towards deeper understanding of fertilization and infertility?Heredity · 2020Article
- Marriage does not relate to major histocompatibility complex: a genetic analysis based on 3691 couples.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Sexual partner preference in animals and humans.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2020Review
- Genetic gateways to COVID-19 infection: Implications for risk, severity, and outcomes.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2020Review
- Body odours as a chemosignal in the mother-child relationship: new insights based on an human leucocyte antigen-genotyped family cohort.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Article
- The specific biochemistry of human axilla odour formation viewed in an evolutionary context.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Review
- Pleasant body odours, but not genetic similarity, influence trustworthiness in a modified trust game.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Children's Body Odors: Hints to the Development Status.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- Sex Differences in Human Olfaction: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Article
- Do Single Men Smell and Look Different to Partnered Men?Frontiers in psychology · 2019Article
- Female assortative mate choice functionally validates synthesized male odours of evolving stickleback river-lake ecotypes.Biology letters · 2018Article
- How Female Mice Attract Males: A Urinary Volatile Amine Activates a Trace Amine-Associated Receptor That Induces Male Sexual Interest.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In many animal species, social communication and mate choice are influenced by cues encoded by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The mechanism by which the MHC influences sexual selection is a matter of intense debate. In mice, peptide ligands of MHC molecules activate subsets of vomeronasal and olfactory sensory neurons and influence social memory formation; in sticklebacks, such peptides predictably modify the outcome of mate choice. Here, we examine whether this evolutionarily conserved mechanism of interindividual communication extends to humans. In psychometric tests, volunteers recognized the supplementation of their body odour by MHC peptides and preferred 'self' to 'non-self' ligands when asked to decide whether the modified odour smelled 'like themselves' or 'like their favourite perfume'. Functional magnetic resonance imaging indicated that 'self'-peptides specifically activated a region in the right middle frontal cortex. Our results suggest that despite the absence of a vomeronasal organ, humans have the ability to detect and evaluate MHC peptides in body odour. This may provide a basis for the sensory evaluation of potential partners during human mate choice.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.