BOURGEONAL OLFACTORY TRHESHOLD AND HUMAN CAPACITY OF REPRODUCTION: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event BOURGEONAL OLFACTORY TRHESHOLD AND HUMAN CAPACITY OF REPRODUCTION: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY Giancarlo Ottaviano1*, Daniela Zuccarello2, Gino Marioni1, Rosario Marchese-Ragona1, Alberto Staffieri1 and Carlo Foresta2 1 Università degli Studi di Padova, Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Italy 2 Università deli Studi di Padova, Department of Hystology, Microbiology and Medical Biotechnology, Italy Introduction. The reproductive success requires the release of millions of spermatozoa and eggs and is made more efficient by attractans that guide sperm to the eggs. For mammals the number of eggs is quite small. The question of what determines which one of the many candidate spermatozoa will fertilize the egg remains still without answer. Recent investigations have focused on the sperm Bourgeonal receptor which seems to be involved in the human sperm chemotaxis and seems to be a critical component in the fertilization process1. Human olfactory sensitivity to the sperm attractant odorant Burgeonal is still debated2. Aims: The present prospective case control study has the purpose to investigate the olfactory sensitivity to Butanol and Burgeonal comparing a group of patients not able to have children despite no alteration of the sperm and a normal fertility of the mate against a control group. Methods. The present prospective study investigated a group of 7 aldult males (mean age of 40±3,8) not able to have children in the last 5 years despite no alteration of the sperm and a normal fertility of the mate against a control group of 15 adult males (mean age of 27,5±4,8) without sperm alterations and history of fertility problems. The spermatozoa number and vitality were evaluated; the effect of buorgeonal on sperm chemotaxis, the odor threshold both for butanol and for bourgeonal were compared between the two groups. Preliminary results. The mean total number of spermatozoa did non differ in the two groups (p=0,105), as well as the sperm motility and vitality (p=0,832 and p=0,595, respectively). In both groups, spermatozoa clearly migrated towards bourgeonal (p=0,004 in the control group and p=0,001 in the study group). Nevertheless olfactory threshold for Butanol did not differ between the two groups (p=0,089), the mean olfactory threshold for Burgeonal was 12,6 in the control group and 10,2 in the study group (p=0,01). Conclusions. If confirmed by an invastigation based on a larger series, odor threshold for burgeonal could be of great value in studying the male capacity of reproduction. References 1Spehr M, Gisselmann G, Poplawski A, Riffel JA, Wetzel CH, Zimmer RK, Hatt H. Identification of a testicular odorant receptor mediating human sperm chemotaxis. Science 2003;299:2054-2058. 2Olsson P, Laska M. Human Male Superiority in Olfactory Sensitivity to the Sperm Attractant Odorant Bourgeonal. Chem. Senses 2010;35:427-432 Keywords: males not able to have children, odor threshold for bourgeonal, sperm chemotaxis Conference: Human Chemosensation 2010, Dresden, Germany, 2 Dec - 4 Dec, 2010. Presentation Type: Presentation Topic: Human Chemosensation 2010 Citation: Ottaviano G, Zuccarello D, Marioni G, Marchese-Ragona R, Staffieri A and Foresta C (2011). BOURGEONAL OLFACTORY TRHESHOLD AND HUMAN CAPACITY OF REPRODUCTION: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Human Chemosensation 2010. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2011.85.00010 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 29 Jan 2011; Published Online: 03 May 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Giancarlo Ottaviano, Università degli Studi di Padova, Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Padova, 35100, Italy, giancarlo.ottaviano@unipd.it Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Giancarlo Ottaviano Daniela Zuccarello Gino Marioni Rosario Marchese-Ragona Alberto Staffieri Carlo Foresta Google Giancarlo Ottaviano Daniela Zuccarello Gino Marioni Rosario Marchese-Ragona Alberto Staffieri Carlo Foresta Google Scholar Giancarlo Ottaviano Daniela Zuccarello Gino Marioni Rosario Marchese-Ragona Alberto Staffieri Carlo Foresta PubMed Giancarlo Ottaviano Daniela Zuccarello Gino Marioni Rosario Marchese-Ragona Alberto Staffieri Carlo Foresta Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.