Sweat as a Source of Next-Generation Digital Biomarkers

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Abstract

Sweat has been associated with health and disease ever since it was linked to high body temperature and exercise. It contains a broad range of electrolytes, proteins, and lipids, and therefore hosts a broad panel of potential noninvasive biomarkers. The development of novel smartphone-based biosensors will enable a more sophisticated, patient-driven sweat analysis. This will provide a broad range of novel digital biomarkers. Digital biomarkers are of increasing interest because they deliver various relevant longitudinal health data. To date, investigations on digital biomarkers have focused on creating objective measurements of function. Sweat analysis using smartphone-based biosensors has the potential to provide initial noninvasive metabolic feedback and therefore represents a promising complement and a source for next-generation digital biomarkers. From this viewpoint, we discuss state-of-the-art sweat research, focusing on the clinical implementation of sweat in medicine. Sweat provides biomarkers that represent direct metabolic feedback and is therefore expected to be the next generation of digital biomarkers. With regard to its broad application in various fields of medicine, we see a clear need to evolve the internet-enabled field of sweat expertise: iSudorology.

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Most cited references 50

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Recent systematic reviews have encouraged the psychiatric research community to reevaluate the contours of schizophrenia epidemiology. This paper provides a concise overview of three related systematic reviews on the incidence, prevalence, and mortality associated with schizophrenia. The reviews shared key methodological features regarding search strategies, analysis of the distribution of the frequency estimates, and exploration of the influence of key variables (sex, migrant status, urbanicity, secular trend, economic status, and latitude). Contrary to previous interpretations, the incidence of schizophrenia shows prominent variation between sites. The median incidence of schizophrenia was 15.2/100,000 persons, and the central 80% of estimates varied over a fivefold range (7.7-43.0/100,000). The rate ratio for males:females was 1.4:1. Prevalence estimates also show prominent variation. The median lifetime morbid risk for schizophrenia was 7.2/1,000 persons. On the basis of the standardized mortality ratio, people with schizophrenia have a two- to threefold increased risk of dying (median standardized mortality ratio = 2.6 for all-cause mortality), and this differential gap in mortality has increased over recent decades. Compared with native-born individuals, migrants have an increased incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia. Exposures related to urbanicity, economic status, and latitude are also associated with various frequency measures. In conclusion, the epidemiology of schizophrenia is characterized by prominent variability and gradients that can help guide future research.

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Autonomous sweat extraction and analysis applied to cystic fibrosis and glucose monitoring using a fully integrated wearable platform.

Sam Emaminejad, Wei Gao, Eric M. Wu … (2017)

Perspiration-based wearable biosensors facilitate continuous monitoring of individuals' health states with real-time and molecular-level insight. The inherent inaccessibility of sweat in sedentary individuals in large volume (≥10 µL) for on-demand and in situ analysis has limited our ability to capitalize on this noninvasive and rich source of information. A wearable and miniaturized iontophoresis interface is an excellent solution to overcome this barrier. The iontophoresis process involves delivery of stimulating agonists to the sweat glands with the aid of an electrical current. The challenge remains in devising an iontophoresis interface that can extract sufficient amount of sweat for robust sensing, without electrode corrosion and burning/causing discomfort in subjects. Here, we overcame this challenge through realizing an electrochemically enhanced iontophoresis interface, integrated in a wearable sweat analysis platform. This interface can be programmed to induce sweat with various secretion profiles for real-time analysis, a capability which can be exploited to advance our knowledge of the sweat gland physiology and the secretion process. To demonstrate the clinical value of our platform, human subject studies were performed in the context of the cystic fibrosis diagnosis and preliminary investigation of the blood/sweat glucose correlation. With our platform, we detected the elevated sweat electrolyte content of cystic fibrosis patients compared with that of healthy control subjects. Furthermore, our results indicate that oral glucose consumption in the fasting state is followed by increased glucose levels in both sweat and blood. Our solution opens the possibility for a broad range of noninvasive diagnostic and general population health monitoring applications.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (publisher-id): DIB

Journal ID (pmc): DIB

Journal ID (doi): 10.1159/issn.2504-110X

Title: Digital Biomarkers

Publisher: S. Karger AG

ISSN (Electronic): 2504-110X

Publication date Subscription-year: 2019

Publication date Collection: September – December 2019

Publication date (Electronic): 05 December 2019

Volume: 3

Issue: 3

Pages: 155-165

Affiliations

[_a] _aCMIO Research Group, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

[_b] _bDepartment of Internal Medicine, Kantonsspital Obwalden, Sarnen, Switzerland

[_c] _cDepartment of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Author notes

*Noé Brasier, CMIO Research Group, University Hospital Basel, Spitalstrasse 22, CH–4031 Basel (Switzerland), E-Mail noe.brasier@usb.ch

Article

Publisher ID: 504387 Other ID: Digit Biomark 2019;3:155–165

DOI: 10.1159/000504387

PubMed ID: 32095774

SO-VID: 0a102b09-9402-43a9-ac08-2abdcc4a769a

License:

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND). Usage and distribution for commercial purposes as well as any distribution of modified material requires written permission. Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug. Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.

History

Date received : 31 August 2019

Date accepted : 28 October 2019

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Tables: 2, Pages: 11

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Sweat as a Source of Next-Generation Digital Biomarkers

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Abstract

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Karger: Digital Health

Most cited references 50

Schizophrenia: a concise overview of incidence, prevalence, and mortality.

Skin immune sentinels in health and disease.

Autonomous sweat extraction and analysis applied to cystic fibrosis and glucose monitoring using a fully integrated wearable platform.

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Cited by 21

Most referenced authors 1,489