Tomsk scientists have found out what anxiety smells like

How does metabolomics differ from conventional biochemistry, which is done in clinics today? And the fact that metabolomics gives the doctor more information about the state of the body. This method allows you to study the molecular profile, including with the help of artificial intelligence, to detect early signs of serious diseases.

“Not so long ago, the university installed the latest experimental installations for the analysis of biomaterials, with the help of which we diagnose cancer and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and tuberculosis by the content of certain molecules in the blood, saliva and even in exhaled air,” explains laboratory employee Denis Vrazhnov. — This is a terahertz spectrometer, a confocal Raman spectroscope.

Using modern technology, the laboratory discovered a significant difference at the molecular level between the inflammation that precedes brain cancer and the glioma itself.

“The experiment was carried out on specially bred laboratory mice with weakened immune systems,” says Vrazhnov. — Isolated cells from a human tumor were injected into the animal’s brain using a syringe. Then they began to monitor the development of glioma over time. In the first week, we saw only signs of inflammation in the blood serum, then, from about the third week, when the tumor itself began to develop, the molecular picture changed greatly. We even thought at first that we had made a mistake in the measurements, but after checking it turned out that the metabolites of pre-cancer inflammation are indeed very different from the metabolites of the tumor itself. This will help in the future to distinguish between different stages of the disease.

— Have scientists already answered the question: can a living creature become infected with cancer from another through blood or saliva?

– Everyone is very interested in this. Until recently, there were only works that showed that the papilloma virus can cause uterine cancer. Recently, a hypothesis about glioma has appeared – there are works that suggest that there may be a connection between small intestinal bacteria and this serious pathology, as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

– Everything is so interconnected?!

— Yes, today no one doubts the statement about the close relationship of the brain with other organs.

No less interesting studies were carried out in the laboratory and with exhaled air. Now this method seems somewhat exotic to us, but in the future it may become commonplace for district clinics. After all, thanks to it, it is also possible to detect health problems at an earlier stage.

Sometimes there is a need to conduct a quick and non-invasive diagnosis. What would be easier would be to ask a person to simply breathe into a tube, as traffic police officers now do in relation to potentially drunk drivers,” says Vrazhnov. “Only thanks to modern molecular methods will it be possible to detect in such air not only alcohol vapors, but also the finest molecular connections that will tell, for example, about incipient tuberculosis, diabetes mellitus, and developing myocardial infarction.

— That is, for example, do diabetics change the concentrations of certain substances in their exhalation?

– Yes, for example, this is the concentration of ammonia. With a developing infarction, approximately the same components show different ratios. Changes usually occur in the blood, it travels to the lungs, and due to gas exchange, substances enter the exhaled air.

Please demonstrate how exhaled air is collected and examined. A research assistant invites a female volunteer to take the test in front of me. They bring her… a disposable urine bag. Yes, yes, according to the employee, until a special device has been developed, it is the most convenient for collecting exhaled air.

“Actually, according to the rules, air intake is done early in the morning, on an empty stomach,” explains the laboratory assistant. — In order to exhale correctly into the urinal, two deep breaths are taken to calm down, and the third breath draws in the very portion of air that will be used for analysis.

Our volunteer begins to exhale, and when about half of the air remains in her lungs, she is given a straw. Once the air has filled the tank, it is connected to a gas analyzer, which measures it across the full range of its constituent components.

Next, we wait for the information on the computer monitor. According to the scientist, if everything is in order with the body, a graph with four peaks should appear; if there are fewer peaks, the alarm should be sounded. Fortunately, in the case of our volunteer, the result was favorable.

Not so long ago, using the same method, using exhaled air, laboratory scientists tried to diagnose depression. They first collected data by examining the air that patients breathed in the clinic, then compared it with a control group and identified common characteristics characteristic of patients with the disease.

– Interesting point. When we conducted our research, we were asked to check whether signs of depression were preserved in the exhaled air of those who had already undergone treatment,” says Denis Alexandrovich. “It turned out that in some patients in the group that was already being prepared for discharge, the picture at the molecular level did not change.

– And what did that say?

“Most likely, this was evidence that the results of treatment, which seemed sufficient for discharge, from the point of view of a psychiatrist, were insufficient from the point of view of molecular biologists. This means that the disease could return again quite quickly.

— That is, in the future, exhaled air may become a kind of control procedure before discharge?

– Apparently, yes.

— What other psychological or psychiatric abnormalities can be detected by exhaled air?

“We conducted studies in cases of bipolar disorder and ordinary stress. Once they even conducted a study of an entire group of moviegoers watching a very dramatic film. To do this, throughout the entire film, our specialists took air samples in the cinema hall with a large syringe, and then sent it to a gas analyzer. It turned out that the air literally smelled of anxiety and excitement, and as the plot developed, its molecular picture became brighter.

— Where could this be used, other than in a movie theater?

— Express measurements of a person’s condition using exhaled air are very important in dangerous enterprises, when the life of an entire city may depend on the psychological state of an employee. You can let a pilot breathe into a tube before an air flight to make sure that he is in peace of mind. As for group measurements, perhaps in the future they will be used to detect panic among large numbers of people.