ArticleEClinicalMedicine2021
Changes to the sebum lipidome upon COVID-19 infection observed via rapid sampling from the skin.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-Analysis of COVID-19 Metabolomics Identifies Variations in Robustness of Biomarkers.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic review with meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy for COVID-19 by mass spectrometry.Metabolism: clinical and experimental · 2022Pooled it
- Lipidomics in Children: Noninvasive Sebum Sampling in Children and Adults Allows for Assessment of Lipidomic Differences According to Age, Sex, and Biological Relatedness.Analytical chemistry · 2026Article
- Comprehensive metabolomics combined with machine learning for the identification of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses directly from upper respiratory samples.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Solid-phase microextraction of sweat components of patients positive for Sars-Cov-2 for identification of possible biomarkers.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Exploring the Risk Factors of Rosacea Exacerbation Associated with COVID-19 Infection or Vaccination: A Cross-sectional Study.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2025Article
- Groomed Fingerprint Sebum Sampling: Reproducibility and Variability According to Anatomical Collection Region and Biological Sex.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Application of Spatial Omics in the Cardiovascular System.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2025Review
- How storage post sampling influences the stability of sebum when used for mass spectrometry metabolomics analysis?Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Skin Surface Sebum Analysis by ESI-MS.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Comparing plasma and skin imprint metabolic profiles in COVID-19 diagnosis and severity assessment.Journal of molecular medicine (Berlin, Germany) · 2024Article
- Critical Factors in Sample Collection and Preparation for Clinical Metabolomics of Underexplored Biological Specimens.Metabolites · 2024Review
- No skin off your back: the sampling and extraction of sebum for metabolomics.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2023Review
- Metabolomics as a powerful tool for diagnostic, pronostic and drug intervention analysis in COVID-19.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2023Review
- An integrated analysis and comparison of serum, saliva and sebum for COVID-19 metabolomics.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- A Real-Time Detection Device for the Rapid Quantification of Skin Casual Sebum Using the Oil Red O Staining Method.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Untargeted saliva metabolomics by liquid chromatography-Mass spectrometry reveals markers of COVID-19 severity.PloS one · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented demand for testing - for diagnosis and prognosis - as well as for investigation into the impact of the disease on the host metabolism. Sebum sampling has the potential to support both needs by looking at what the virus does to us, rather than looking for the virus itself.
methodsIn this pilot study, sebum samples were collected from 67 hospitalised patients (30 COVID-19 positive and 37 COVID-19 negative) by gauze swab. Lipidomics analysis was carried out using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, identifying 998 reproducible features. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were applied to the resulting feature set.
findingsLipid levels were depressed in COVID-19 positive participants, indicative of dyslipidemia;
interpretationCOVID-19 dysregulates many areas of metabolism; in this work we show that the skin lipidome can be added to the list. Given that samples can be provided quickly and painlessly, we conclude that sebum is worthy of future consideration for clinical sampling.
fundingThe authors acknowledge funding from the EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account for sample collection and processing, as well as EPSRC Fellowship Funding EP/R031118/1, the University of Surrey and BBSRC BB/T002212/1. Mass Spectrometry was funded under EP/P001440/1.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.