4,16-Androstadien-3-one

The Uses of 4,16-Androstadien-3-one

Androstadienone is a prominent androstene present on male human axillary hair and on the male axillary skin surface. Studies suggest that Androstadienone has a strong pheromone-like activities in hum ans. Androstadienone is a metabolite of Testosterone (T155000).

Definition

The main 16-androstenes occurring in humans are 5α-androst-16-en-3-one (5α-androstenone), 5α-androst-16-en-3α-ol (5α-androstenol), and 4,16-androstadien-3-one (androstadienone). Their metabolism has been extensively studied in pigs, and they are produced in the Leydig cells in the testes from the precursor pregnenolone. In humans, it is thought that these compounds are produced in the adrenal glands and the ovary and that their metabolism follows a common steroidogenic pathway. Androstenol has been detected in human urine; androstenone and androstadienone occur in plasma and saliva.

Biological Functions

4,16-androstadien-3-one (Androstadienone) affects diverse aspects of psychological state, depending on the social and psychological context of the recipient. It improves women’s mood, particularly in laboratory settings that typically dampen mood (moreover, this improved mood is sustained after returning to everyday life outside the lab). These effects are obtained with exposure to less than 9 nmol of steroid passively inhaled and verified to be undetectable as an odour, even when also masked by the strong odour of clove. Simply waving a swab soaked in a 250 μM solution briefly below the nose is sufficient to produce enduring effects. Moreover, similar psychological effects are not produced either by a structurally similar 16-androstene steroid or muscone, which has a similar odour. Therefore, in minute amounts, androstadienone does not depend on odour properties for its functional effects on the mood of women. However, mood is not the only psychological state in which androstadienone modulates in women.