Sampling body odor for healthcare monitoring: how to avoid the pitfalls (Elsa Boudard, MDCW 2024)

🎤 Presenter: Elsa Boudard¹´², José Dugay¹, Isabelle Rivals¹, Nabil Moumane², Jérôme Vial¹, Didier Thiébaut¹ (¹ESPCI, Paris, France, ²Sense-Detect Health-Care, Aigremont, France)

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💡 Book in your calendar: 16th Multidimensional Chromatography Workshop (MDCW) 3 - 5. February 2025

Abstract

The human body constantly emits numerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs): they constitute the body odor and are affected by various factors such as pathologies. Thus, body odor analysis can enable efficient, non-invasive and large-scale health monitoring. Dogs have a very acute sense of smell, and are therefore commonly used to perform olfactive detection (explosives, narcotics...). However, dogs are also likely to be disturbed by environmental conditions, so that it is necessary to confirm their detections through a more objective technique. So, sampling on a solid sorbent followed by thermodesorption into comprehensive two-dimensional chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TD-GC×GC/ToFMS) allows the needed high sensitivity and high resolution for the analysis of this complex matrix.

Study's initial step was the development of a user-friendly sampling system with materials having minimal VOCs emissions. These requirements are mandatory in order to obtain TD-GC×GC/ToFMS results suitable for chemometric treatment, and a reliable search of volatile biomarkers of the disease by comparing samples belonging to positive and negative groups. However, the use of Fisher tests or volcano plots is not enough in this case and, once a biomarker is highlighted, it is necessary to check whether it is specific of the disease or of the sampling process, including the sampling environment. Examples given in this lecture will use COVID-19 as model pathology. Another concern regarding the constancy of one person’s body odor over time will also be discussed. This gives a first overview of the temporal and spatial constancy of body odor.