They for the first time measured the psychological state of the team using the air exhaled in the room
Scientists from Tomsk State University conducted a very unusual experiment in one of the city cinemas. They collected the total exhaled air of spectators in the hall to test it for collective stress. In the laboratory of laser molecular imaging and machine learning, the MK observer was told about more detailed studies of the state of the human body through the study of its biological materials.
What happens behind the doors of this laboratory is called the unusual word “metabolomics” — this is the systematic study of unique chemical “fingerprints”, that is, the processes occurring in living cells during a particular disease. The direction has recently begun to develop in the world and is still at the research stage.
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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, in order 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 oncological and cardiac diseases. -vascular diseases, diabetes and tuberculosis based on 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.
Denis Vrazhnov.
“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.
— 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.
A volunteer exhales air to diagnose possible diseases.
— 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, you can also detect health problems at an earlier stage.
Sometimes there is a need to conduct a quick and non-invasive diagnosis. It would be easier to simply ask a person to 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.
— 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, a special device has not yet been developed, but 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. — To correctly exhale into the urinal, two deep breaths are taken to calm down, and the third breath takes in the very portion of air that will be analyzed.
Our volunteer begins to exhale, and when about half of the air remains in the lungs, They hand her 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 successful.
Not so long ago, laboratory scientists tried to diagnose depression using the same method, using exhaled air. 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 Aleksandrovich. — It turned out that in some patients in the group that was already being prepared for discharge, the picture did not change at the molecular level.
A urinal is currently used to collect exhaled air from the patient.
— Most likely, this was evidence that the results of treatment, which seemed sufficient for discharge, from the point of view of the psychiatrist, were insufficient, with point of view of molecular biologists. This means that the disease could return again quite quickly.
—Apparently, yes.
—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.
— Express measurements of a person’s condition using exhaled air are very are 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 a large number of people.