Paper Spray Ionization Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry of Sebum Classifies Biomarker Classes for the Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, 2022, Sarkar

Andy

Andy

Senior Member (Voting rights)
Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, and identification of robust biomarkers to complement clinical diagnosis will accelerate treatment options. Here, we demonstrate the use of direct infusion of sebum from skin swabs using paper spray ionization coupled with ion mobility mass spectrometry (PS-IM-MS) to determine the regulation of molecular classes of lipids in sebum that are diagnostic of PD. A PS-IM-MS method for sebum samples that takes 3 min per swab was developed and optimized. The method was applied to skin swabs collected from 150 people and elucidates ∼4200 features from each subject, which were independently analyzed. The data included high molecular weight lipids (>600 Da) that differ significantly in the sebum of people with PD. Putative metabolite annotations of several lipid classes, predominantly triglycerides and larger acyl glycerides, were obtained using accurate mass, tandem mass spectrometry, and collision cross section measurements.

Open access, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacsau.2c00300


BBC News article on this research, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-62795737
 
The most amazing part of this is that it happened because of that famous woman who can smell Parkinson's. So they could develop this because they had a reliable validated instrument to compare to. This is the flaw behind most applications of machine learning: it only works if you can already do the thing manually.

Also, smell is complex:
The research found more than 4,000 unique compounds in the samples, of which 500 were different between people with Parkinson's and the control group.
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From a simple swab on their back.

Also: apparently she can do that for other diseases. And it was mostly down to chance, could have simply never happened without the right circumstances, from a Reddit thread:
Since many people are reading this comment I can tell a little background story. She started noticing a strange smell on her husband that would not go away. She always complained about it but there was nothing he could do and nobody else could smell it. Years later he was diagnosed with parkinsons. He went to a support group and took her with him and everyone had that strange smell. So she made the connection.

Then she went to a public lecture of a medical professor specialized in parkinson and told her story. He dismissed her at first but then read a story about dogs who can smell diseases. So he contacted her and made an experiment. She should determine if someone has parkinson by the smell of their t-shirt, without even seeing them. She got everyone right, except one... until the this guy was diagnosed a couple years later with parkinson. So she was better than any diagnostic method of that time.
Click to expand...

On that subject, I have noticed that my body smell is different with ME. So have many long haulers. There could be the way to an effective test and no one would know about it unless some people go out of their way with the right initiative meeting the right people in the right circumstances.
 
Merged thread
Summary: Researchers discovered personal odors can alter in people with Parkinson’s disease. Based on this, they identified specific markers for Parkinson’s in sebum, an oily substance secreted from the skin. They developed a new, non-invasive swab test that can identify Parkinson’s with 95% accuracy.

The difficulty with diagnosis

Parkinson’s is difficult to diagnose due the myriad symptoms it can present with, and these symptoms can also vary widely from patient to patient. Additionally, many of the symptoms seen in Parkinson’s can be attributed to other conditions.


https://neurosciencenews.com/parkinsons-smell-21575/
 
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Amw66 said:
All because one woman could detect her husband smelling different.
Dogs can pick up , and be trained to pick up different scents.
No doubt there will be other conditions with definitive " smells" if we look for them
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I will actually be surprised if ME/CFS isn't one of them. The extent of the metabolic changes alone must be changing out sweat output and I can tell I smell different. But the bacteria/fungus on my skin has always changed, ever since I got ME I have had issues with fungal/bacteria growth in certain areas where sweat likes to accumulate. I strongly suspect there is something detectable on our skin from our sweat.
 
There is a problem with a kind of fabric eating bugs in my area (not an exterminable kind, we have to just live with it). 99% of the clothes they have attacked in our home over the years have been mine. We have a running joke that my body scent must be a special delicacy for them, but have wondered if there could be a more scientific explanation.

(There are some Parkinson’s in my family history, but I have been tested/cleared several times.)
 
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Rain said:
We have a running joke that my body scent must be a special delicacy for them, but have wondered if there could be a more scientific explanation.
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I have had problems with clothes moths since developing ME/CFS too. In my case, the scientific explanation might just be that certain segments of my wardrobe (e.g. fine woollen knits and suits) weren't getting to see the light of day anymore (or the dry cleaners or the washing machine) leaving the moth larvae to munch away in the dark quite undisturbed. It did make it easier to throw out clothes that I probably was not going to wear again, once they had lots of holes.

Sorry, taking the thread off track. Here's a related thread:
'Lab' testing - could dogs smell ME/CFS?
 
rvallee said:
The most amazing part of this is that it happened because of that famous woman who can smell Parkinson's. So they could develop this because they had a reliable validated instrument to compare to. This is the flaw behind most applications of machine learning: it only works if you can already do the thing manually.

Also, smell is complex:

From a simple swab on their back.

Also: apparently she can do that for other diseases. And it was mostly down to chance, could have simply never happened without the right circumstances, from a Reddit thread:


On that subject, I have noticed that my body smell is different with ME. So have many long haulers. There could be the way to an effective test and no one would know about it unless some people go out of their way with the right initiative meeting the right people in the right circumstances.
Click to expand...

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/oct/21/experience-i-can-smell-illnesses-in-people
 
I’m sure I smelled different for the first two to three years of illness — a sort of bitter smell. Past few years, back to normal.
 
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