Division/Committee: [AGFD] Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

The human physiology is a complex vehicle that absorbs, distributes, metabolizes and excretes chemical foreign agents, including the constituents of food and drugs, on a continual basis. In the case of food intake, the nutritional properties are utilized by the body for energy expenditure or storage and for maintaining healthy organ and bodily functions, while the non-digestible components are accumulated and eventually excreted. During drug intervention, the functional xenobiotic elements can undergo different processes, such as enzymatic oxidation in the liver and/or distribution to the site of action, with subsequent metabolism and excretion. Emerging human health applications seek to exploit the presence of residuals of such processes that manifest in bodily excrements, including urine, feces and/or exhaled breath, with the ultimate goal of establishing non-invasive screening procedures or diagnostic support. Examples include the well-known breathylzer test to determine alcohol intake or the hydrogen breath test to diagnose lactase deficiency. This symposium explores the utilization of such biomarkers in non-invasive screening applications relating to food intake and tolerance, as well as the pharmacokinetics of drug use, both prescribed and recreational. The symposium covers novel technical approaches to biomarker discoveries.

Jonathan Beauchamp

Fraunhofer IVV

Appearances