BODY ODOUR

✓Body malodour, including foot odour, suppresses social interaction by diminishing self-
confidence and accelerating damage to the wearer’s clothes and shoes.

✓Body odour, which encompasses axillary and foot odour, can communicate a strong non-verbal
signal . These odours are often unnoticed by the offender because that person has specific
anosmia.

✓As a result, the individual is embarrassed when alerted, and his or her self-confidence is
compromised. The offensive body odour also has economical consequences stemming from
the need to replace damaged/stained clothes and shoes.

✓The human scent is genetically controlled and systemically influenced by dietary and medicinal
intake, as well as the application of fragrance products.
✓Heavy sweating or hyperhidrosis, particularly at axillary sites, leads to unpleasant
odours that cause social embarrassment and reduce self-confidence, especially among
women.

✓Hyperhidrosis results from the oversecretion of sweat.

✓Because there is an excessive amount of water in which bacteria can grow,

hyperhidrosis is often accompanied by bromhidrosis or osmidrosis or offensive body
odour.

✓Both conditions can be treated by topically applying anti-perspirant and deodourant

products.

✓Body odour treatment products are part of a multibillion dollar industry. High levels of
fragrance are often used in these products to mask malodour
Sweat glands and body odour:
✓ Sweat is necessary for thermoregulation control, enabling humans to live in different climate zones.

✓ There are three types of sweat glands: eccrine, apocrine and apoeccrine.

✓ The eccrine glands are distributed throughout the human body, particularly in the palms, soles and armpits.

✓ Sweat glands vary in density and size depending on race, sex, body site and determination techniques.

✓ Apocrine gland secretions, which are initially odourless, are metabolized by normal skin flora, producing malodour.
✓ Eccrine glands exist and function at birth. Apocrine glands exist at birth, but they do not begin to function until the onset of
puberty.

✓ Apoeccrine glands develop from the eccrine gland during adolescence, as the number of eccrine glands is observed to
decrease with age.

✓ Although the eccrine glands are mainly responsible for thermoregulation, emotional stimuli also initiate a response,
particularly from those glands found in the palms, soles and forehead.

✓ Emotional stimuli also initiate responses from the apoeccrine and apocrine glands within the axilla
✓ Apocrine glands open into hair follicles and secrete malodour precursors and microbial nutrients that provide an excellent environment for the
growth of cutaneous microorganisms .

✓ Some examples of apocrine gland secretions include: proteins, lipids, sulphur- containing amino acids, volatile short-chain fatty acids and
steroids such as dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), DHEA sulphates (DHEAS), androsterone and testosterone .

✓ In adolescents, a high amount of 5a-reductase type I has been identified that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), another
androgen that contributes to malodour . Such cutaneous microorganisms include aerobic cocci of the Micrococcaceae family, aerobic
diphtheroids (mainly Corynebacterium), anaerobic diphtheroids (Propionibacterium) and yeast (Pityrosporum).

✓ Some of the resulting malodourous species include: (E)-3-methyl-2-hexenoic acid or 3M2H and 3-hydroxy-3-methyl hexanoic acid (HMHA), 3-
sulphanylalkanol (particularly 3-methyl-3-sulphanyl hexanol; 3M3SH), androstenone (5a-androst-16-en-3-one) and androstenol (5a-androst-16-
en-3a-ol).

✓ Hypersweating by eccrine glands, commonly known as hyperhidrosis, produces a water-rich environment that supports the
bacteria population (i.e. Corynebacteria, Stapphylococci and Propionibacteria) that causes extreme body malodour known as
osmidrosis or bromhidrosis.

✓ Hypersweating does not occur before the onset of puberty, similar to emotional sweating in the axillary region.

✓ Axillary hyperhidrosis is defined as a sweat rate >20 in men and 10 mg per min in women. However, palmar hyperhidrosis in
both sexes is defined as a rate of sweat secretion >30–40 mg per min.
✓ Sweat from the eccrine gland mainly consists of water (99%) and amino acids, ions, lactic acid, glycerol, urea, peptides and
proteins (particularly cysteine containing).

✓ Propionibacteria, Staphylococcus and Corynebacteria that are apart of the normal skin flora catabolize glycerol, and lactic acid
to short-chain (C2–C3) volatile fatty acids (VFAs) such as acetic, and propionic acids.

✓ These bacteria also degrade amino acids into C4–C5 methyl branched VFAs such as isovaleric acid, a common foot odourant.

✓ Valine is transformed into isobutyric acid, leucine is converted to isovaleric acid, and isoleucine is degraded to 2-methyl butyric
acid through aerobic metabolism.

✓ The apoeccrine glands secrete some of the same compounds that are found in eccrine sweat because these glands are
believed to develop from eccrine glands.

✓ Sebaceous glands also secrete odourless compounds that include wax esters, cholesteryl esters, cholesterol and other sterols,
squalenes, hydrocarbons and triglycerides.

✓ These compounds are further metabolized into malodourants by means of cutaneous bacteria lipase. Triglycerides are
hydrolysed yielding glycerol and subsequently VFAs.
Odourous acids:

✓ Staphylococci metabolize amino acids to generate short-chain methyl-branched VFAs that contribute to malodour.

✓ Corynebacteria metabolize skin lipids to generate medium-chain VFA (C6–C11). These bacteria transform, for example isopalmitic acid to
isobutyric acid . Corynebacteria, previously called lipophilic diphtheroids, populate the axillary region and are believed to be the main bacterial
contributor to axillary odour.

✓ The metabolic efficiency of odourant generation by means of Coryneform lipase activity was found to be superior to that mediated by
Staphylococci and Propionibacterium. Propionibacterium was found to be the least efficient bacteria with regard to the generation of
malodourants .
Odourous thiols
✓ Odouriferous sulphanyl alkanols include 3-sulphanylhexanol (3SH), 2-methyl-3-sulphanylbutanol (2M3SB), 3-sulphanylpentanol (3SP)
and 3M3SH.

✓ These compounds were found in low amounts in human axillary sweat , but human sensitivity to them is high. Cystathione-b-lyase is
the enzyme involved in catalysing the release of sulphur-containing malodourous compounds.

✓ The strong meaty, fruity odour of 3M3SH is contributed by the 97% stereometric excess of (-)-(S)-isomer, which possesses
characteristic sulphuric odour, whereas its (+)-(R)-isomer (>97% enantiomeric excess) has a fruity odour. The odour of 3SP is described
as onion-like, sulphuric and weakly reminiscent of grapefruit.

✓ Although these compounds are found at very low concentrations, they strongly contribute to body odour . These compounds are
secreted from apocrine glands [26] as Cys-(S) or Cys-Gly-(S) conjugates.
Odourous steroids
✓ Axillary sweat and hair contain androsterone (5a-androst-16- en-3a-ol), 17-oxo-5a-androstan-3a-yl sulphate (androsterone sulphate;
AS), 17-oxo-5a-androsten-3b-yl sulphate (DHEAS), DHEA, 3b-androstadienol and androstadienone (androst-4, 16-dien-3-one), which
are secreted by apocrine glands .

✓ These precursors are converted to 4,16-dienone, and 5a-androstenone by Corynebacteria producing a characteristic urine-like odour.

✓ 5a- Androstenone is catabolized to 3a- and 3b-androstenols, which have musk, and urine scents, particularly the a-isomer. Coryneform
and Staphylococcus epidermidis cleave DHEAS, which is transported by the ABCC11 protein and androsterone sulphate by means of
sulphatases delivering their unconjugated corresponding steroids (like 5a-androst-2-en-17-one).

✓ Corynebacteria is the most efficient in transforming 5a-androst-5,16- diene-3a-ol to androst-4,16-diene-3-one, the

malodourous steroid.

✓ The transformation is significantly associated with the presence of oxygen, confirming the aerobic nature of Coryneform.

✓ Thus, 5,6-dehydrostenols created by Coryneform 5a-reductase play an important role in malodour steroid production.
Characteristic body odours and their detection thresholds
Active ingredients for body odour treatment:
✓ Topical anti-perspirants are the first line of body odour improvement because they are inexpensive, with minimal side effects.

✓ Anti-perspirants are used to diminish sweat secretion by blocking the excretory ducts of sweat glands. Most types of antiperspirants
contain metallic salts, particularly aluminium.

✓ The types of aluminium salts include: aluminium chlorohydrate (ACH), aluminium bromohydrate, aluminium chloride, aluminium
sulphate, potassium alum and sodium aluminium chlorohydroxy lactate. Aluminium salts are anti-bacterial. Aluminium antiperspirant
salts (most notably ACH, aluminium sulphate, ACH lactate and aluminium chloride) polymerize with increasing pH, forming aluminium
hydroxide gel plugs in the sweat tubule.

✓ These plugs prevent new sweat movement towards the skin surface. However, they are not permanent, and the acidic nature of these
salts can be irritating to the skin which limits their use.

✓ In an attempt to reduce skin irritation, salicylic acid was used in combination with ACH . The formulation, consisting of aluminium
salts and salicylic acid, had a reduced incidence of skin irritation and had good anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.
Zinc salts
✓ The anti-DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) activity of zinc gluconate, zinc glycerinate, zinc acetate, zinc sulphate, zinc oxide, zinc
citrate and zinc chloride was used in combination with other anti-perspirants, natural androgen receptor expression inhibitors
and malodour carrier proteins inhibitors in the formulations for body odour control.

✓ Water-soluble zinc salts (zinc pidolate or zinc pyrrolidonecarboxylate, zinc chloride, zinc gluconate, zinc lactate, zinc phenol
sulphate and zinc sulphate) were used to absorb human axillary smells.

Mn salts
✓ In addition to zinc and aluminium, porous manganese was used as a deodourant carrier that exerted anti-bacterial activity .
Furthermore, divalent manganese salts (manganese chloride, manganese acetate and manganese sulphate) were found to
reduce axillary, foot and scalp odours in aerosol, spray, roll-on, cream, stick and laundry detergents suitable for woven or non-
woven fibres.
Anti-microbial agent
✓ Formulations of Acs (antimicrobial ceramics) , for instance, zeolite AC, calcium phosphate AC and amorphous silica AC, are
used as anti-microbial agents in household and personal care products because of their good biocompatibility.

✓ ACs based on hydroxyapatile and nitrateapatile complexed to Ag+ demonstrated an obvious anti-microbial effect.

✓ The bactericidal action of silver zeolite ACs resulted from the transfer of silver ion to the bactericidal cell and the formation
reactive oxygen species.

✓ This action mode was proved in the bacteria treated, and untreated with Ag-zeolite, and in anaerobiosis condition as well.
✓ Anti-microbial agents that could be used in deodourants include-------→ cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide; cetyl pyridinium
chloride; benzethonium chloride; diisobutyl phenoxy ethoxy ethyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride; sodium N-lauryl
sarcosine, sodium N-polymethyl sarcosine; N-myristoyl glycine, potassium N-lauroyl sarcosine; stearyl trimethyl ammonium
chloride; 2,4,4¢-trichloro- 2¢-hydroxydiphenyl ether; zinc pyrithione; sodium bicarbonate; 2,2¢-methylene-bis-(3,4,6-
trichlorophenol); zinc phenolsulphonate; 2,2¢-thio-bis-(4,6-dichorphenol); p-chloro-m-xylenol; dichloro-m-xylenol; and
diaminoalkyl amide.

✓ These agents were formulated with a 1,3-diketone to obtain deodourant effects.

✓ Notably, 5-chloro-2- (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)-phenol and 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane,4,6-dione were deodourant agents that were
suitable at concentrations of 0.01–20% for topical application and in cloth worn in contact with skin.

✓ In addition, these diketones were found to be compatible with anti-microbial agents that were used in the conventional
formulations such as sticks, roll-on, cleansing and laundry products.

✓ The diketones were entrapped in cyclodextrin for controlled release of active components, and for the absorption of
malodourous perspiration, with no associated irritation .

✓ In addition, benzalkonium chloride was used as an anti-microbial agent in a deodourizing emulsion containing isopropyl
myristate or isopropyl sterate.
✓ Aryl 2-acetoxyethanoic acids (phenyl 2-acetoxyethanoic acid, diphenyl 2-acetoxyethanoic acid (4-chlorophenyl) 2-
acetoxyethanoic acid, (2-chlorophenyl) 2-acetoxyethanoic acid, (4-chlorophenyl)-( 2-chlorophenyl) 2-acetoxyethanoic acid)
were also applicable to the development of deodourant products as they inhibited the bacterial growth.

✓ Azole anti-fungal agents include clotrimazole, miconazole, tioconazole, butoconazole, econazole, terconazole, ketoconazole
and fenticonazole, as well as terbinafine and tolnaftate. These compounds were used in creams for axillary odour treatment, in
combination with undecylenic and salicylic acids, and benzoyl and hydrogen peroxides .

✓ omega-Cyclohexylalkan-1-oles with anti-microbial activity were formulated into body odour treatment products.

✓ Androstenone odour was found to decrease following application of povidone, which is an anti-bacterial agent
Odour-neutralizing agent
✓ Axillary malodour neutralizing agents can act via a sulphydryl reactant, yielding N-ethylmaleimide and N-coumaryl maleimide.

✓ This technology was patented in addition to the neutralization effect of NaHCO3 towards odourous acids for instance 3M2H.

✓ Metal oxide silicates in particular calcium silicate act as odour absorbents and neutralizers to absorb and neutralize body
malodours accordingly.

✓ The silicate particles allow for the volatilized malodourants, and fatty acids to be easily adsorbed onto the surfaces. Therefore,
less fatty acids evaporate, and less odour is perceived
Odour absorbers
✓ Cyclodextrins are used to entrap active ingredients and thereby control the release of polyols, anti-microbials, zinc salts,
polymers, bicarbonate salts, chelating agents, zeolites and activated carbon.

✓ Cyclodextrin formulations can be sprayed or wiped onto the skin.

✓ Cyclodextrins absorb moisture and odour-causing molecules.

✓ In addition, silicates, silicas and carbonates absorb moisture which indirectly reduces malodour formation by eliminating
cutaneous flora that cause the odour. Bacteria prefer cool and dry to hot and humid environments.

✓ Polyamines hybridized with inorganic oxide materials [e.g. SiO2, TiO2, ZnO, Al2O3 or Mg(OH)2] have also been shown to
absorb odour.
Novel ingredients for the treatment of body malodour
a. Resveratrol, epigallocatechin-3-gallate and flufenamic acids were used to prevent body odour by inhibiting the
expression of androgen receptors.

b. Monesin, tunicamycin, amphomycin, diumycin, showdomycin, tsushimycin, amphortericine, mycospocidin,

streptovirudin and d-glucosamine are thought to be involved in apoD (apolipoprotein D) suppression through
the inhibition of N-linked oligosaccharide-processing glycoprotein synthesis. Therefore, terminal glycosylation
was prevented, and body malodour was limited.

c. Ethylendiaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS) and pentetic acid, for example, significantly reduced the enzyme activity,
and subsequent malodour production by chelating Zn2+ , rather than by acting as bacteriostatic agents.

d. Steroidal axillary malodour production was inhibited by exoenzyme inhibition. The exoenzymes involved were
aryl sulphatase and b-glucuronidase. The inhibitors with deodourant effects were Cu2+, hexametaphosphate, d-
glucaro-D-lactone, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), nitrilotriacetic acid, O-phenanthroline and sodium
sulphate or other phosphates.