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Female Scent Signals Enhances Male Resistance to Influenza

Ekaterina A. Litvinova¹, Elena P. Goncharova², Alla M. Zaidman³, Marina A. Zenkova⁴ & Mikhail P. Moshkin⁵

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1. Phisiological adaptation of animal, Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
2. Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
3. Novosibirsk Research Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedics, Novosibirsk, Russia
4. Nucleic acids biochemistry, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
5. Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

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Document Type:

Manuscript

Date:

Received 03 June 2009 12:54 UTC; Posted 03 June 2009

Subjects:

Ecology, Immunology

Tags:

• chemical communication
• searching behavior
• breeding risk
• adaptive immunity
• scent

Abstract:

Scent of receptive females as signal to reproduction stimulate male mice to olfactory search of a potential breeding partner^{1, 2}. This searching behavior is coupled with infection risk due to bacterial contamination of the fecal and urine scent marks⁴. The theoretical consideration of host evolution under inevitable parasitic pressures, including helminthes, bacteria, virus etc., predicts adaptations that help protect against parasites associated with breeding⁷. In this study, we propose that acceptation of female signals by male mice leads to adaptive redistribution of immune defense directed to protection against respiratory infection risks. Our results reveal migration of macrophages and neutrophils to upper airways upon exposure to female odor stimulus resulting in increased resistance to influenza virus in male mice. Contrary to widely accepted immunosuppressive function of female sexual signals, our data provide the first demonstration of the adaptive immunological response to female odor stimulus through induction of nonspecific immune response in upper airways.

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This document is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

How to cite this document:

Litvinova, Ekaterina, Goncharova, Elena, Zaidman, Alla, Zenkova, Marina, and Moshkin, Mikhail. Female Scent Signals Enhances Male Resistance to Influenza. Available from Nature Precedings <http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2009.3311.1> (2009)

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