Biochemical and immunological indicators of human sensitivity to odors in model olfactometric studies

Introduction. Dynamic olfactometry, with participation of a team of human panelists as sensors, was developed to quantify odor concentrations in samples of atmospheric air and model mixtures.The aim of the work is to evaluate the informativity of a number of salivary biochemical and immunological parameters as possible markers of human olfactory acuity in model olfactometric study of emissions from food industry enterprises.Materials and methods. Experimental study is based on the use of ECOMA T08 olfactometer, three food odorants with odors of orange, cognac and coffee, 10 panelists tested with n-butanol, standard methods for assessing cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, sIgA, NAG, α-amylase, intensity of luminol-enchanced chemiluminescence in the samples of mixed saliva of the participantsResults. An algorithm has been developed for the preprocessing of olfactometric data, optimal for their correlation analysis with saliva molecular parameters. Among 7 saliva markers under study, there is shown only one to be associated with human olfactory acuity in Spearman’s correlation test – IL-8 content (R= −0.392; p=0.032 with odor thresholds and close to reliable positive associations with perceived odor intensity in combined data matriх, N=30). Peculiarities of the scatterplot «odor thresholds/IL-8» suggest healthy persons with a sharper sense of smell to have more flexible mechanisms for releasing IL-8 in response to provoking changes in oral microbes, and this chemotactic signal, in turn, leads to timely attraction of blood neutrophils, reducing bacterial colonization and thickness of supraepithelial mucus, and so to more efficient binding of odorant molecules with olfactory receptors.Limitations. Small sample sizes, although they correspond to the practical purposes of the European standard EN 13725.Conclusion. The data obtained indicate that dynamic olfactometry, created as a practical tool for assessing odor concentrations in atmospheric air, can also be used to study the molecular mechanisms of olfaction.Compliance with ethical standards. The consent of the Local Ethics Committee of the Centre for Strategic Planning of the Federal medical and biological agency of Russia was obtained for conducting of the research involving human participants (Protocol No. 3 of 08/17/2020). All participants gave informed voluntary written consent to participate in the study.Contributions: Khripach L.V. – research concept and design, biochemical and ELISA assays, writing the article; Knyazeva T.D. – biochemical and ELISA assays; Andryushin I.B. – olfactometry; Budarina O.V. – research concept and design, editing. All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.Funding. The study had no sponsorship.Received: October 16, 2025 / Revised: November 11, 2025 / Accepted: December 2, 2025 / Published: January 15, 2026