Recent experiments on mice casually lead to the discovery that, in such animals, histocompatibility antigens can act as olfactory markers and help recognising the most suitable partner. Selecting a companion bearing antigens of different type is likely to lead to an offspring which, being mostly heterozygous, shall show a wider immunitary response thus having a significant advantage in the selection process. The present work is intended to demonstrate that even in Man some relation may exist between histocompatibility antigens and olfactory perception. In order to evaluate if in our species too there are biological factors which to some extent can influence the choice of the partner, studies were conducted on pairs with proved good fitness. Firstly antigenic difference between single and coupled people was analyzed by comparing the frequency of class I HLA antigens found in 1454 coupled persons (727 pairs) against a control population of 133 singles. The analysis showed that, in addition to a different antigenic frequency, singles and paired persons do have a different appreciation of pheromone substances, a difference which is even more evident in pairs whose components have different HLA antigens. In order to achieve heterozygous offspring, a partner with different HLA antigens has to be selected in Man too, therefore it appears that such choice is likely to be influenced by a pheromone communication system which helps olfactory recognition of genetical identity.
Histocompatibility antigens and olfactory perception in man
Amoroso A.;
1996-01-01
Abstract
Recent experiments on mice casually lead to the discovery that, in such animals, histocompatibility antigens can act as olfactory markers and help recognising the most suitable partner. Selecting a companion bearing antigens of different type is likely to lead to an offspring which, being mostly heterozygous, shall show a wider immunitary response thus having a significant advantage in the selection process. The present work is intended to demonstrate that even in Man some relation may exist between histocompatibility antigens and olfactory perception. In order to evaluate if in our species too there are biological factors which to some extent can influence the choice of the partner, studies were conducted on pairs with proved good fitness. Firstly antigenic difference between single and coupled people was analyzed by comparing the frequency of class I HLA antigens found in 1454 coupled persons (727 pairs) against a control population of 133 singles. The analysis showed that, in addition to a different antigenic frequency, singles and paired persons do have a different appreciation of pheromone substances, a difference which is even more evident in pairs whose components have different HLA antigens. In order to achieve heterozygous offspring, a partner with different HLA antigens has to be selected in Man too, therefore it appears that such choice is likely to be influenced by a pheromone communication system which helps olfactory recognition of genetical identity.
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