androst-16-en-3-one and isovaleric-acid

Explorations of the qualitative and quantitative differences between the odors of pemenone (PEM), androstenone (AND) and isovaleric acid (IVA) show that they share a number of common perceptual characteristics. Among these are similarities in their odor quality and relative intensity ratings. PEM is also an efficient cross-adaptor and modulator of a subject's AND sensitivity. Here we evaluate the reciprocal efficacy of AND adaptation to alter the perceived intensity and quality of PEM, IVA and AND. Twenty-three people, including both those osmic and allosmic (n = 11) for the putrid odor quality of PEM, were tested. Following training in odor quality and intensity rating techniques, subjects sampled a selected substance for 2 min to obtain adaptation and then reported quality and intensity ratings for the three test stimuli. There was significant self-adaptation by PEM and IVA in all subjects, but self-adaptation by AND was only observed in the PEM-osmic subjects. AND did not cross-adapt PEM or IVA to any significant extent. Collectively, these results contrast with our earlier study in which PEM was an efficient cross-adaptor of AND. Here, AND was no more efficient than the control as an adapting substance for PEM, despite significant self-adaptation of PEM by itself. This lack of reciprocity in the effectiveness of PEM and AND as cross-adapters is not related to differences in odor intensity, as the PEM and AND concentrations were adjusted for each subject to elicit comparable intensity reports. These results support the notion that PEM, AND and IVA share certain perceptual characteristics, but interact differentially with three or more sets of perceptual channels that are now thought to result in a putrid odor quality.

Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Adult; Androstenes; Cyclohexanes; Discrimination, Psychological; Female; Hemiterpenes; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Odorants; Olfactory Pathways; Pentanoic Acids; Pentanones; Smell

The responses elicited by olfactory stimuli may be modified throughout an organism's life. For example, Wysocki et al. found that regular presentations of 5a-androst-16-en-3-one (androstenone) to anosmic subjects resulted in a graded increase in the perceived intensity of this substance in about half of their subjects (Wysocki et al., 1989). The increased sensitivity they observed appeared to be specific to the exposed odorant and was presumed to occur only in anosmic subjects. Here, we continue our explorations of the individual differences in olfactory capabilities among subjects initially classified by their ability to detect and identify the odor of the diastereoisomeric ketone, cis-4-(4'-t-butylcyclo-hexyl)-4-methyl-2-pentanone (pemenone) which shares with androstenone a pronounced urine-sweaty odor. We asked if regular pemenone exposure enhances the sensitivity of human subjects to pemenone, androstenone, isovaleric acid, or phenylethyl alcohol and, if shifts in threshold occurred, were they specific to particular odorants and classes of subject? Detection thresholds for the four substances were determined before and after 7-8 weeks of regular, biweekly, exposure to pemenone (n = 18 subjects) or a control substance (22 subjects). Significant decreases in threshold were seen in the experimental group, relative to the control group, for androstenone, but not for the other compounds evaluated. Neither gender nor initial pemenone osmicity significantly affected the frequency of subjects with enhanced sensitivity. These findings show that a subject's sensitivity to one odorant can be enhanced by exposure to another, chemically distinct compound.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Adult; Androstenes; Cyclohexanes; Drug Synergism; Female; Hemiterpenes; Humans; Male; Odorants; Pentanoic Acids; Pentanones; Phenylethyl Alcohol; Sensory Thresholds; Smell

Repeated exposure to olfactory ligands (odorants) increased peripheral olfactory sensitivity in mice. For two unrelated ligands, androstenone and isovaleric acid, induction of olfactory sensitivity was odorant-specific and occurred only in inbred strains that initially had low sensitivity to the exposure odorant. These data demonstrate stimulus-induced plasticity in a sensory receptor cell, suggesting a form of stimulus-controlled gene expression. Induction with two unrelated odorants implies that olfactory induction is a general phenomenon that may occur in a large fraction of the human population.

Topics: Androstenes; Animals; Carrier Proteins; Hemiterpenes; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains; Nasal Mucosa; Neuronal Plasticity; Odorants; Pentanoic Acids; Receptors, Odorant; Sensory Receptor Cells; Sensory Thresholds; Smell