Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2011 Sep;150(3):257-66.
doi: 10.1093/jb/mvr090. Epub 2011 Jul 19.

The scent of disease: volatile organic compounds of the human body related to disease and disorder

Mika Shirasu  1 , Kazushige Touhara
Affiliations
Review

The scent of disease: volatile organic compounds of the human body related to disease and disorder

Mika Shirasu et al. J Biochem. 2011 Sep.

Abstract

Hundreds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted from the human body, and the components of VOCs usually reflect the metabolic condition of an individual. Therefore, contracting an infectious or metabolic disease often results in a change in body odour. Recent progresses in analytical techniques allow rapid analyses of VOCs derived from breath, blood, skin and urine. Disease-specific VOCs can be used as diagnostic olfactory biomarkers of infectious diseases, metabolic diseases, genetic disorders and other kinds of diseases. Elucidation of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying production of disease-specific VOCs may provide novel insights into therapeutic approaches for treatments for various diseases. This review summarizes the current knowledge on chemical and clinical aspects of body-derived VOCs, and provides a brief outlook at the future of olfactory diagnosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources