Female ejaculation enhances reproductive success

IF 2.1 4区医学 Q3 MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL

Medical hypotheses Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI:10.1016/j.mehy.2024.111544

Tanya Ramnauth, Tiffany M. Haddock, Steven M. Platek

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Abstract

Research on female ejaculation is scant. In recent years, scientists have assayed female ejaculate and discovered that, in addition to urine, an organ called the Skeen’s gland releases prostate-specific antigen (PSA). PSA in male ejaculate serves to fragment semenogelins and dissolve the seminal coagulum, enhancing sperm motility. The incidence of female orgasm is highly variable, with estimates ranging from 95% from self-stimulation to 50% during penile-vaginal intercourse. By contrast, the incidence rate of female ejaculation is even less well-understood and even more variable. Existing research suggests that female orgasm functions to enhance reproductive success by moving sperm in closer proximity to the egg as well as serves as a mate selection mechanism. We hypothesize that increased PSA paired with various substances from female ejaculation further enhances sperm motility and, therefore, conception. In addition to laying out the hypothesis for the possible adaptive function of female ejaculation, we propose several empirical questions derived from the hypothesis.

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女性射精可提高生殖成功率

有关女性射精的研究很少。近年来，科学家们对女性射精进行了化验，发现除了尿液外，一个名为斯肯腺的器官也会释放前列腺特异性抗原（PSA）。男性射精中的前列腺特异性抗原可使精液凝胶破碎，溶解精液凝块，从而增强精子的活力。女性性高潮的发生率变化很大，估计从自我刺激的 95% 到阴茎阴道性交的 50% 不等。相比之下，对女性射精发生率的了解就更少了，其变化也更大。现有研究表明，女性性高潮的功能是使精子更接近卵子，从而提高生殖成功率，同时也是一种择偶机制。我们假设，女性射精时增加的 PSA 与各种物质配对会进一步提高精子的活力，从而提高受孕率。除了提出雌性射精可能具有适应性功能的假设外，我们还提出了几个由该假设引申出的经验性问题。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Medical hypotheses 医学-医学：研究与实验

CiteScore

10.60

自引率

2.10%

发文量

167

审稿时长

60 days

期刊介绍： Medical Hypotheses is a forum for ideas in medicine and related biomedical sciences. It will publish interesting and important theoretical papers that foster the diversity and debate upon which the scientific process thrives. The Aims and Scope of Medical Hypotheses are no different now from what was proposed by the founder of the journal, the late Dr David Horrobin. In his introduction to the first issue of the Journal, he asks ''what sorts of papers will be published in Medical Hypotheses? and goes on to answer ''Medical Hypotheses will publish papers which describe theories, ideas which have a great deal of observational support and some hypotheses where experimental support is yet fragmentary''. (Horrobin DF, 1975 Ideas in Biomedical Science: Reasons for the foundation of Medical Hypotheses. Medical Hypotheses Volume 1, Issue 1, January-February 1975, Pages 1-2.). Medical Hypotheses was therefore launched, and still exists today, to give novel, radical new ideas and speculations in medicine open-minded consideration, opening the field to radical hypotheses which would be rejected by most conventional journals. Papers in Medical Hypotheses take a standard scientific form in terms of style, structure and referencing. The journal therefore constitutes a bridge between cutting-edge theory and the mainstream of medical and scientific communication, which ideas must eventually enter if they are to be critiqued and tested against observations.