EXAMPLE 14
Psychophvsiological Effect of Androstane Stimulation of the VNO
The psychophysiological effect of Androstane stimulation of the VNO was measured by the coordinate administration of pheromone and questionnaire
evaluation of the subject before and after administration. The questionnaire included a panel of adjectives used as part of the standard Derogatis Sexual
Inventory evaluation.
The subjects were 40 women between the ages of 20 and 45, all in good health. The women were randomly assigned--20 exposed to placebo and 20
exposed to about 20 picograms of Androsta-4,16-dien-3-one, administered as described in Example 10, supra. Subjects were given a 70 item
questionnaire evaluating feeling states immediately before and 30 minutes after administration of either placebo or experimental substance. The 70
adjectives of the questionnaire were randomly administered and subsequently clustered for evaluation based on their relevance to each mood, feeling, or
character trait. The results were as follows: Changes in feelings of social warmth, personal well-being, arousal/excitement, and aggression, from before
administration to 30 minutes after administration, were not significant in those exposed to the 16-Androstene compared to the changes resulting from
administration of the control. However, the decrease in negative affect (nervous, tense, ashamed, anxious, irritable, angry, enraged--T-test: p<0.0001,
Anova: p<0.04), negative mood and character (sensitive, regretful, blameworthy, guilty, remorseful, sad, hopeless, resentful, worthless, miserable, unhappy,
bitter, timid--T-test: p<0.0004, Anova: p<0.06), and overall negativity (the combination of affect and character--T-test: p<0.0003, Anova: p<0.05) were
highly significant after 16-Androstene administration as compared to administration of the control.
Overall, these results suggest a sedative and/or anti-anxiety, and/or anti-depressant effect of Androsta-4,16-dien-3-one when administered intranasally.
Bookmarks