Donate your snot for science: Antwerp researchers seek volunteers

Antwerp University is looking for healthy volunteers who want to donate a sample of snot, to examine the bacteria in the nose. Scientists will compare the bacteria with that of sinusitis patients, with the goal of developing a treatment against the condition.

Sinusitis is most often the result of an infection that causes the mucus membrane lining the inside of the nose and the sinuses to become inflamed. Bacteria play an important role in this process.

“Healthy people possibly have a good microbial system and balance, while people with chronic sinusitis possibly have another bacterial composition,” project co-ordinator Sarah Lebeer said. “We want to map the processes better and develop an alternative for antibiotics as treatment.”

The researchers aim to study about 200 samples. Samples of sinusitis patients were collected at hospitals, and the team are now looking for healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 45.

Interested people need to make an appointment with the University Hospital of Antwerp, where a sample will be taken from the back of the nose with a cotton swab. The research will be done anonymously, but participants will be able to get feedback about the bacteria in their sample.

The project, which will last four years, is supported by the Flemish Agency for Innovation through Science and Technology and is being carried out with the university hospital and the University of Leuven.

Photo: Ingimage