Differing Alterations of Odor Volatiles Among Pathogenic Stimuli

Area of Science:

• * Metabolomics
• * Immunology
• * Animal Models

Background:

• * Inflammation causes changes in the body's volatile metabolome.
• * These volatile changes can be detected by others and through analysis.
• * Previous studies used lipopolysaccharide to alter mouse urinary metabolites.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To test if body odor volatile alterations differ based on the pathogen causing inflammation.
• * To investigate if immune signaling pathways influence these volatile changes.
• * To explore the potential for volatile metabolome analysis in diagnosing febrile diseases.

Main Methods:

• * Mice were treated with different immunogens to induce inflammation.
• * The volatile metabolome of mouse urine was analyzed.
• * Chemometric analyses were used to detect differences in volatile compounds.

Main Results:

• * Inflammation-induced volatile metabolome alterations contained specific information about the causative pathogen.
• * Differences in volatiles were not solely dependent on inflammation severity.
• * Distinct volatile profiles were observed for different types of induced inflammation.

Conclusions:

• * The volatile metabolome can reveal the specific pathogen responsible for inflammation.
• * This finding supports the potential for differential medical diagnosis of febrile diseases.
• * Differentiating bacterial from viral infections via volatile metabolome analysis could enhance antibiotic stewardship.