Now it is necessary to find out how exactly this happens.
Anyone who has ever experienced the coronavirus knows how difficult it is to cope without the sense of smell. Scents not only enrich our perception of the surrounding world but can also induce changes in the genes of cells located far beyond the nose.
Researchers from the University of California, Riverside, noted that the concept of delivering drugs through the nose is not new. However, there has been little in-depth research on which diseases can be treated with odorants, including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
To test this hypothesis, the team of scientists conducted an experiment on fruit flies and mice. For five days, they exposed the animals to various concentrations of diacetyl vapors—a volatile compound released by yeast during the fermentation of fruits. Additionally, human cells were cultured in the laboratory, which were also tested for the effects of diacetyl.
As reported by the authors of the study in the journal eLife, diacetyl caused significant changes in gene expression in flies and mice, including brain cells, mouse lungs, and fly antennae. Subsequent experiments showed that fruit vapors could halt the growth of neuroblastoma cells in humans and slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's disease, which is accompanied by neuropsychiatric symptoms and progressive cognitive impairments.
Thus, cellular and molecular biologists concluded that some volatile compounds released by microbes and food can alter the epigenetic states of neurons and other eukaryotic cells.
However, the study also has some shortcomings. For example, there is a lack of detailed analysis of the underlying mechanisms that could explain how scents induce changes in cells located far from the nose. It is also unclear how long the effect of the scent will last, how often one needs to inhale fruit vapors, and whether this could lead to negative consequences. In this regard, one can recall the words of Paracelsus: “All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not a poison.”
