Česká společnost pro hmotnostní spektrometrii

(13. ročník České konference hmotnostní spektrometrie a 11. Neformální proteomické setkání - FrO-20)
Mass spectrometry of human body odor: Signatures of psychophysiological states

Pavlina Kyjakova ^1 *, Natan Horacek ¹, Antonie Bierling ², Ilona Croy ², Robert Hanus ¹

1. UOCHB AVCR Praha
2. Department of Clinical Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany

Abstrakt

Human body odor carries rich information about our genetic background as well as our physiological and psychophysiological states, including various diseases and pathologies. This seemingly simple statement is well supported by both everyday experience and extensive research — most of which has relied on olfactory perception studies using human raters or trained dogs. However, empirical knowledge about the chemical foundations of body odor differences remains limited, primarily due to past technical challenges in detecting and separating the hundreds of small molecules emitted by the human body.
With the recent advances in gas-phase metabolomics, many previously inaccessible questions regarding human body odor have become realistic research targets. In this study, we combined olfactory perception ratings with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) to investigate axillary body odor patterns associated with different psychophysiological states in healthy male donors. Specifically, we examined odor changes following physical exercise, exposure to psychosocial stress, and sexual arousal stimuli.
In my presentation, I will demonstrate that both perception ratings and chemical analyses effectively distinguished control samples from those collected after exercise and stress exposure. In contrast, we did not observe a systematic shift in body odor patterns in response to sexual arousal. I will also present candidate analytes that appear to underline these body odor differences across psychophysiological states.

* Korespondující autor: pavlina.kyjakova@uochb.cas.cz

Poděkování:

Funding: Pathfinder Open SMELLODI (101046369)