Significance of Intravenous Olfaction Test Using Thiamine Propyldisulfide (Alinamin) in Olfactometry

Recovery of Nasal Physiology after Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery: Olfaction and Mucociliary Transport

“…In our series, the percentage of patients with impaired olfactory function decreased from preoperative 78 to 64% 12 months following FESS. It has been clearly observed that nonresponders in the Alinamin test show poor prognosis in recovering from olfactory dis orders, while many improved cases were obtained in responders, whose mean value of detection threshold at the preoperation stage ranged from 3.6 to 5.4 in T & T olfactometry [12]. In our series, preoperative butanol threshold scores were significantly lower as the severity of sinusitis increased as evaluated by OMU CT scans (p < 0.01; fig.…”

“…Mucocil iary transport dysfunction was found in the nasal cavities with chronic sinusitis [13], Since mucociliary transport is carried out by cilia, mucus and an interaction between mucus and cilia, their functional and structural impair ment must be responsible for mucociliary transport dys function. A quantitative reduction in cilia may be ob served in chronic paranasal sinusitis, but their ciliary activity may be normal in chronic paranasal sinusitis 267 when examined by scanning electron microscopy [14], There have been several reports of impaired mucociliary function resulting from paranasal sinusitis [6,12,15]. In our series, the improvement in mucociliary transport was observed after FESS and more improvement was ob served in patients with a severer grade of sinusitis.…”

Posttraumatic olfactory dysfunction

“…More recently JetStream Olfactometry (Nagashima Medical Instruments Company, Tokyo, Japan) has been used in conjunction with T&T to avoid contamination with other ambient odors. The Alinamin test involves the intravenous injection of thiamine propyldisulfide (a vitamin B1 derivative) which results in a garlictype smell sensation compared to no smell for normal saline [56]. There is a normal latency (7-8 s) and normal duration of sensation (1-2 min) of smell sensation with the derivative that is typically unknown by the subject and can be used to detect malingering.…”

Olfactory dysfunction in Parkinson's disease

“…The disadvantage of the test is that it is comparatively complicated to conduct. In Japan, the Alinamin test, an intravenous olfaction test, is becoming more widely used [14]. Alinamin, which is produced from vitamin B1, is injected intravenously, the subject is made to breathe slowly through the nose, and the alinamin is expelled from the lungs, rising to the nasal cavity where it is perceived as an odor resembling garlic.…”