Trained dogs can detect the odor of Parkinson's disease
A definitive diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease (PD) remains elusive, so identification of potential biomarkers can facilitate diagnosis and early intervention. Two dogs were trained to distinguish between dry skin swabs obtained from people with Parkinson's (PwP) and control participants. After 38-53 weeks of training on 205 samples, the dogs were tested in a double-blind trial using 60 control and 40 target (drug-naïve PwP) samples. They each showed high sensitivity (70% and 80%) and specificity (90% and 98%). This supports previous findings that dogs can be trained to reliably detect the odor of PD.
Authors
- Nicola J. Rooney (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9629-1700)
- Eleanor Sinclair (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0698-1105)
- J. Corish
- Claire Guest (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1169-9246)
- Monty Silverdale (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3295-6897)
- Martin J. Somerville (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7792-7176)
- Joy Milne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7133-6984)
- Caitlin Walton‐Doyle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7123-3336)
- Tilo Kunath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8805-7356)
- Julie Jones-Diette (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1769-8612)
- Perdita E. Barran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7720-586X)
- S. V. Morant (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5674-3784)
- Drupad K. Trivedi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7969-0195)
- Jayde Smith
Institutions
- University of Dundee (GB)
- Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB)
- Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Parkinson s Disease
- Published
- 2025-07-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1877718x251342485
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Chemical Sensor Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
- Parkinson's UK
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council