Unexplained repeated pregnancy loss is associated with altered perceptual and brain responses to men's body-odor

Mammalian olfaction and reproduction are tightly linked, a link less explored in humans. Here, we asked whether human unexplained repeated pregnancy loss (uRPL) is associated with altered olfaction, and particularly altered olfactory responses to body-odor. We found that whereas most women with uRPL could identify the body-odor of their spouse, most control women could not. Moreover, women with uRPL rated the perceptual attributes of men's body-odor differently from controls. These pronounced differences were accompanied by an only modest albeit significant advantage in ordinary, non-body-odor-related olfaction in uRPL. Next, using structural and functional brain imaging, we found that in comparison to controls, most women with uRPL had smaller olfactory bulbs, yet increased hypothalamic response in association with men's body-odor. These findings combine to suggest altered olfactory perceptual and brain responses in women experiencing uRPL, particularly in relation to men's body-odor. Whether this link has any causal aspects to it remains to be explored.

A possible link between olfaction and miscarriage

Unexplained repeated pregnancy loss is associated with an altered perception of male odors and differences in brain regions that process smells.

Male-mediated prenatal loss: Functions and mechanisms

Sexually selected infanticide has been the subject of intense empirical and theoretical study for decades; a related phenomenon, male-mediated prenatal loss, has received much less attention in evolutionary studies. Male-mediated prenatal loss occurs when inseminated or pregnant females terminate reproductive effort following exposure to a nonsire male, either through implantation failure or pregnancy termination. Male-mediated prenatal loss encompasses two sub-phenomena: sexually selected feticide and the Bruce effect. In this review, we provide a framework that explains the relationship between feticide and the Bruce effect and describes what is known about the proximate and ultimate mechanisms involved in each. Using a simple model, we demonstrate that male-mediated prenatal loss can provide greater reproductive benefits to males than infanticide. We therefore suggest that, compared to infanticide, male-mediated prenatal loss may be more prevalent in mammalian species and may have played a greater role in their social evolution than has previously been documented.

Exocrine Gland-Secreting Peptide 1 Is a Key Chemosensory Signal Responsible for the Bruce Effect in Mice

The Bruce effect refers to pregnancy termination in recently pregnant female rodents upon exposure to unfamiliar males [1]. This event occurs in specific combinations of laboratory mouse strains via the vomeronasal system [2, 3]; however, the responsible chemosensory signals have not been fully identified. Here we demonstrate that the male pheromone exocrine gland-secreting peptide 1 (ESP1) is one of the key factors that causes pregnancy block. Female mice exhibited high pregnancy failure rates upon encountering males that secreted different levels of ESP1 compared to the mated male. The effect was not observed in mice that lacked the ESP1 receptor, V2Rp5, which is expressed in vomeronasal sensory neurons. Prolactin surges in the blood after mating, which are essential for maintaining luteal function, were suppressed by ESP1 exposure, suggesting that a neuroendocrine mechanism underlies ESP1-mediated pregnancy failure. The single peptide pheromone ESP1 conveys not only maleness to promote female receptivity but also the males' characteristics to facilitate memorization of the mating partner.

Newborn interneurons in the accessory olfactory bulb promote mate recognition in female mice

In the olfactory bulb of adult rodents, local interneurons are constantly replaced by immature precursors derived from the subventricular zone. Whether any olfactory sensory process specifically relies on this cell renewal remains largely unclear. By using the well known model of mating-induced imprinting to avoid pregnancy block, which requires accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) function, we demonstrate that this olfactory memory formation critically depends on the presence of newborn granule neurons in this brain region. We show that, in adult female mice, exposure to the male urine compounds involved in mate recognition increases the number of new granule cells surviving in the AOB. This process is modulated by male signals sensed through the vomeronasal organ and, in turn, changes the activity of the downstream amygdaloid and hypothalamic nuclei involved in the pregnancy block response. Chemical depletion of newly generated bulbar interneurons causes strong impairment in mate recognition, thus resulting in a high pregnancy failure rate to familiar mating male odors. Taken together, our results indicate that adult neurogenesis is essential for specific brain functions such as persistent odor learning and mate recognition.

Female behaviour plays a critical role in controlling murine pregnancy block

Exposure of recently mated female rodents to unfamiliar male scents during daily prolactin surges results in pregnancy failure (the 'Bruce effect'). Control of nasal contact with male scents during these narrow windows of sensitivity could allow females to maintain or terminate pregnancy, but female behavioural changes specifically during this critical period have not been investigated. We examined the approach or avoidance of familiar stud strain and unfamiliar male scents by recently mated female mice. Females that maintained pregnancy avoided both unfamiliar and familiar male scent during critical periods of susceptibility for the Bruce effect. By contrast, females that did not maintain pregnancy showed a sharp rise in the time spent with unfamiliar male scent during this critical period. Manipulation of the social status of unfamiliar and stud strain scent donors did not affect the likelihood of pregnancy block, although females spent more time with dominant male scents across all time periods. The ability to control the Bruce effect through behaviour during brief sensitivity just before dusk, when females are likely to be in nest sites, provides a mechanism by which females may adjust their reproductive investment according to nest site social stability and likelihood of offspring survival.