Accumulating evidence suggests that men do not find body odours of human leucocyte antigen-dissimilar women more attractive.

Abstract

In our recent study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B [1], we investigated the effects of major histocompatibility complex (MHC; or human leucocyte antigen system, HLA in humans) on men's preferences for women's body odours. Using rigorous methods, we found no evidence that men find body odours of HLA-dissimilar women more attractive than odours of HLA-similar women. In his comment, Wedekind [2] claims that our conclusions were premature, because he found (using our data) a stronger negative relationship between pleasantness and intensity for HLA-dissimilar odours than for similar ones. Although this is an interesting finding, it cannot be considered as a support for HLA-related mate preferences. Wedekind's comment is rather misleading, for various reasons. First, empirical evidence for HLA-mediated body odour preferences in humans is not nearly as clear as the author would like to assume. In the 20 years since Wedekind et al .'s seminal work [3], various studies examining HLA-influences on body odour preferences in humans have been published and the reported findings are mixed. In fact, a recent meta-analysis by Winternitz, Abbate [4] revealed that over all studies with human and non-human primates, results on MHC-mediated body odour preferences are inconsistent and non-significant. It is important to note that Wedekind [2] misinterprets the meta-analysis by Winternitz et al . [4]: These authors found preferences for MHC heterozygosity but not for …