Trimethylamine (TMA) is a metabolite overtly present in patients suffering from trimethylaminuria (TMAU), a rare genetic disorder characterized by a strong “fishy” body odor. To date, no approved pharmacological treatment to sequester excess TMA on the skin of patients exists. Here, transmembrane pH gradient poly(isoprene)‐block‐poly(ethylene glycol) (PI‐b‐PEG) polymersomes are investigated for the topical removal of TMA. PI‐b‐PEG amphiphiles of varying chain length are synthesized and evaluated for their ability to form vesicular structures in aqueous media. The optimization of the PI/PEG ratio of transmembrane pH gradient polymersomes allows for the rapid and efficient capture of TMA both in solution and after incorporation into a topical hydrogel matrix at the pH of the skin. A subsequent double blind olfactory study reveals a significant decrease in perceived odor intensity after application of the polymersome‐based formulation on artificial skin substrates that has been incubated in TMA‐containing medium. This simple and novel approach has the potential to ease the burden of people suffering from TMAU.

pH gradient poly(isoprene)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) polymersomes were investigated in the detoxification of the endogenous metabolite ammonia.

Trained Os made judgments as to the presence of a signal plus noise pattern adjacent to a noise pattern with binary and 4-category rating response procedures. Two mean differences between stimulus distributions, 2 criterion levels, and 2 response procedures were factorially combined to produce 8 experimental conditions. Individual protocols of all Os in rating sessions and of 2 Os in most binary sessions resulted in straight line z-coordinate receiver operating functions. A receiver operating function expresses the probability of a hit as a function of the probability of a false alarm. As predicted by the theory of signal detection, neither response procedures nor criterion manipulations affected de, but de was sensitive to the magnitude of the mean difference between the signal and signal plus noise distributions. However, Os were not influenced by pay-off conditions to adopt low criteria in binary sessions even though criterion shifts were produced in rating sessions. Finally, the obtained slope for the receiver operating functions was nearly twice as large as predicted by the theory. On the basis of these mixed positive and negative results, the acceptance of the theory as a general model for visual detection may be questioned even while some successful applications of the theory to visual detection problems exist.