Application Note ReView: AS184: Sniffing Out Parkinson’s Disease Using GERSTEL Dynamic Headspace (DHS) and Olfactory Detection Port (ODP)
Application Note ReView: AS184 – Sniffing Out Parkinson’s Disease Using GERSTEL Dynamic Headspace (DHS) and Olfactory Detection Port (ODP)
With the work into the detection of Parkinson’s Disease that Anatune contributed to taking receipt of its Horizon Award at the end of October, this edition of Application Note ReView takes a look back at AS184: Sniffing Out Parkinson’s Disease Using GERSTEL Dynamic Headspace (DHS) and Olfactory Detection Port (ODP).
Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. Parkinson’s Disease detection has faced many challenges across generations. Generally, symptoms manifest gradually over time. The cause of Parkinson’s disease is unidentified, but assumed to implicate both genetic and environmental factors. As yet there is no cure, with treatment focused on improving symptoms. Hence, the importance of an early diagnosis to limit as much as possible neurons loss.
Mrs Joy Milne captured the media attention as a “super smeller”, able to diagnose PD using her sense of smell. As a result, a research project aims to identify volatile molecules secreted through the skin of people in the early stages of PD. In fact, scientists believe that changes in the skin of patients with early PD produces a unique odour linked to the condition. Finding the molecular signature responsible for the characteristic PD odour would be extremely beneficial for the development of early diagnosis tools for the scientific community.
In support of the work published by The University of Manchester, Anatune developed a Dynamic Headspace (DHS) GC-MS method for the analysis of gauzes used to swipe skin of PD affected individuals.
Very promising results were obtained for the future of Parkinson’s Disease Detection. Furthermore, Joy could highlight chromatographic areas relevant to the characteristic Parkinson’s smell thanks to the use of the GERSTEL Olfactory Detection Port.
This application note describes the preliminary work done at Anatune in support of the work published by Manchester University. See here. The data was acquired using DHS in combination with ODP for the investigation of the smell of the molecular signature of Parkinson’s Disease.
GERSTEL Dynamic Headspace (DHS)
GERSTEL Olfactory Detection Port (ODP)
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