Physical Trauma Alters the Spectrum of Volatile Organic Compounds in Mouse Urine

The volatile metabolome, reflecting disease-related specific and nonspecific metabolic changes, forms the “olfactory image” of the disease. We investigated changes in the volatile metabolome of urine as a result of a mild physical trauma, a subcutaneous injection. We showed that detection animals, dogs and mice, distinguished the urinary volatile metabolites of model mice subjected to physical trauma (saline injection) from both intact controls and mice injected with healthy and tumor-affected liver tissue. Two successive injuries increased the similarity of odors between healthy and tumor-affected mice. We conclude that physical trauma contributes significantly to the “olfactory image” of the disease.