The effects of female-male friendships on male postcopulatory levels of oxytocin and vasopressin, and sperm parameters in Macacaarctoides

Abstract

Male and female stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides) form close relationships akin to human friendships. Oxytocin and vasopressin modulate these and other social relationships and reproductive behavior and physiology in various mammal species. Besides the behavioral effects of oxytocin, this hormone plays an essential role in the ejaculatory process, favoring sperm transport upward the female reproductive tract. Therefore, we investigated the influence of friendships on postcopulatory serum levels of oxytocin and vasopressin in the stump-tailed macaque (Macaca arctoides). In addition, we searched for a correlation between this kind of social relationship and sperm transport in the vagina during the periovulatory and luteal phases. Six female and six male adult macaques having different friendship indices served as experimental animals. Allocated in 57 mating pairs combinations, these animals were allowed to copulate once in the luteal and periovulatory phases. Blood samples were collected from each animal finishing copulation to measure oxytocin and vasopressin. Afterward, we profoundly sedated the females and collected three semen samples from the vagina every 10 min to perform spermatobioscopies. Males' post-copulation oxytocin values increased along with the friendship index, while vasopressin behaves oppositely. Sperm concentration and immotile and motile sperm decreased from one sample to another as male-female closeness increased. Finally, in the periovulatory phase, only in the first vaginal sample, sperm velocities significantly increased with friendship indices. Our results showed that in stump-tailed macaques, heterosexual friendships promote higher postcopulatory oxytocin concentrations and better physiological conditions to males, which probably enhance reproductive success.