English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

It is currently not fully established whether human individuals have a genetically determined, individual-specific body odour. Volatile carboxylic acids are a key class of known human body odorants. They are released from glutamine conjugates secreted in axillary skin by a specific Nalpha-acyl-glutamine-aminoacylase present in skin bacteria. Here, we report a quantitative investigation of these odorant acids in 12 pairs of monozygotic twins. Axilla secretions were sampled twice and treated with the Nalpha-acyl-glutamine-aminoacylase. The released acids were analysed as their methyl esters with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry detection. The pattern of the analytes was compared with distance analysis. The distance was lowest between samples of the right and the left axilla taken on the same day from the same individual. It was clearly greater if the same subject was sampled on different days, but this intra-individual distance between samples was only slightly lower than the distance between samples taken from two monozygotic twins. A much greater distance was observed when comparing unrelated individuals. By applying cluster and principal component analyses, a clear clustering of samples taken from one pair of monozygotic twins was also confirmed. In conclusion, the specific pattern of precursors for volatile carboxylic acids is subject to a day-to-day variation, but there is a strong genetic contribution. Therefore, humans have a genetically determined body odour type that is at least partly composed of these odorant acids.

journal of the royal society interface

Body odour of monozygotic human twins: a common pattern of odorant carboxylic acids released by a bacterial aminoacylase from axilla secretions contributing to an inherited body odour type