ArticleJournal of sex research
Interactions Among Sexual Activity, Menstrual Cycle Phase, and Immune Function in Healthy Women.
Article in Journal of sex research. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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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
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Sexual Satisfaction and Orgasm Experiences During Partnered and Solo Sex Among 27,931 Users of the Flo App.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Prenatal androgen exposure predicts sexuality disorders: insights from anthropometric measurements and questionnaires.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Do inflammation and relational motivation coordinate having better sex? The interplay between C-reactive protein and relational approach motivation on sexual well-being.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Factors influencing intercourse frequency among the young and middle-aged men.Zhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences · 2022Article
- Putative Mental, Physical, and Social Mechanisms of Hormonal Influences on Postpartum Sexuality.Current sexual health reports · 2021Article
- Inflammation Predicts Sexual Arousability in Healthy Women.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2021Article
- What Influences Coital Frequency Among Chinese Men?: A Cross-Sectional Study.Sexual medicine · 2021Article
- Comparing the Self-Reported Health, Happiness, and Marital Happiness of a Multinational Sample of Consensually Non-Monogamous Adults with Those of the U.S. General Population: Additional Comparisons by Gender, Number of Sexual Partners, Frequency of Sex, and Marital Status.Archives of sexual behavior · 2021Article
- Non-Surgical Cancer Risk Reduction inCancers · 2020Article
- Sexual frequency is associated with age of natural menopause: results from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.Royal Society open science · 2020Article
- Changes in, and factors associated with, frequency of sex in Britain: evidence from three National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal).BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2019Article
- Observational
- Progesterone-Related Immune Modulation of Pregnancy and Labor.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2019Review
- Progesterone Modulation of Pregnancy-Related Immune Responses.Frontiers in immunology · 2018Article
- Prevalence of premenstrual syndrome and its effect on quality of work life in working women in South India.Industrial psychiatry journalArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Past research has found menstrual-cycle-related changes in functional immune response; we examined if sexual activity also changed markers of immune defense. We followed 32 naturally cycling women (15 sexually active with a partner ≥ 1 time/week, 17 sexually abstinent for the last four months) over one menstrual cycle. Participants provided serum and saliva samples at menses and ovulation, and additional saliva samples at midfollicular and midluteal phases. At each phase, participants also self-reported symptoms associated with colds, flu, pain, menstrual discomfort, and premenstrual syndrome. We tested saliva and serum for ability to kill Escherichia coli or Candida albicans, and serum for complement protein activity. For serum-mediated pathogen killing, among sexually active women only, there was a significant midcycle decrease in killing of E. coli. For saliva-mediated pathogen killing, among abstinent women only, there was a significant midcycle decrease in killing of E. coli, and midcycle increase in killing of C. albicans. Sexually active women had significantly lower complement activity than abstinent women overall. Finally, both groups reported lower physical symptoms at midcycle and higher symptoms at menses. There may be important differences in immune function between healthy women who are sexually active versus abstinent. Further replication is warranted.
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