{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T12:35:45Z","timestamp":1772195745005,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772150400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Department of Innovation, Research and University","award":["2018\u20132020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2018\u20132020"]}]},{"name":"Italian Ministry of University and Research under the PRIN 2022 project","award":["2022LBBKHX"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022LBBKHX"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Metabolites"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the urgent need for non-invasive diagnostic strategies. While breath analysis has been widely investigated, sweat and sebum remain largely unexplored, despite being abundant, chemically diverse, and easily collected. This exploratory study presents a proof-of-concept workflow to evaluate their potential for infection biomarker discovery. Methods: Samples from 51 subjects were analyzed by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC\/ToF-MS). Over 8000 untargeted volatile compounds were detected, reflecting the high complexity of these matrices. Results: Data refinement and chemometric modelling using principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) revealed robust separation between SARS-CoV-2-positive Patients and Controls. Classification accuracies consistently exceeded 95%, demonstrating the robust discriminative performance of the approach. Among the detected volatiles, 2-methylbenzenemethanol acetate emerged as the most informative compound, representing a potential biomarker candidate. Conclusions: This work shows that the sweat and sebum volatilome can be exploited for clinical applications. The workflow integrates non-invasive sampling, comprehensive chromatographic profiling, and advanced statistical modelling, representing a methodological contribution to analytical chemistry. Beyond COVID-19, the strategy provides a potential framework for volatile organic compound (VOC)-based diagnostics across different diseases and supports future development of sensor technologies for translation into healthcare practice.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/metabo16030158","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T10:41:02Z","timestamp":1772188862000},"page":"158","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Untargeted Sweat and Sebum Volatilomics by HS-SPME-GC\/ToF-MS for the Identification of SARS-CoV-2-Associated Biomarkers"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0594-6722","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edoardo","family":"Longo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, Free University of Bolzano, 39100 Bolzano, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7931-6961","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emanuele","family":"Boselli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, Free University of Bolzano, 39100 Bolzano, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Baldassarre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6247-5958","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emanuela","family":"Sozio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Friuli Centrale, 33100 Udine, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lucrezia","family":"Zuccarelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Carlo","family":"Tascini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy"},{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Friuli Centrale, 33100 Udine, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bruno","family":"Grassi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5191-0520","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefano","family":"Cesco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, Free University of Bolzano, 39100 Bolzano, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"257","DOI":"10.1093\/jb\/mvr090","article-title":"The scent of disease: Volatile organic compounds of the human body related to disease and disorder","volume":"150","author":"Shirasu","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. 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