Background: Shock includes different pathophysiological mechanisms not fully understood and remains a challenge to manage. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) may contain relevant biomarkers that could help us make an early diagnosis or better understand the metabolic perturbations resulting from this pathological situation. Objective: we aimed to establish the metabolomics signature of EBC from patients in shock with acute respiratory failure in a pilot study. Material and methods: We explored the metabolic signature of EBC in 12 patients with shock compared to 14 controls using LC-HRMS. We used a non-targeted approach, and we performed a multivariate analysis based on Orthogonal Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) to differentiate between the two groups of patients. Results: We optimized the procedure of EBC collection and LC-HRMS detected more than 1000 ions in this fluid. The optimization of multivariate models led to an excellent model of differentiation for both groups (Q2 > 0.4) after inclusion of only 6 ions. Discussion and conclusion: We validated the procedure of EBC collection and we showed that the metabolome profile of EBC may be relevant in characterizing patients with shock. We performed well in distinguishing these patients from controls, and the identification of relevant compounds may be promising for ICC patients.

BackgroundCystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most prevalent autosomal recessive disease in the Caucasian population. A cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator knockout (CFTR-/-) pig that displays most of the features of the human CF disease has been recently developed. However, CFTR -/- pigs presents a 100% prevalence of meconium ileus that leads to death in the first hours after birth, requiring a rapid diagnosis and surgical intervention to relieve intestinal obstruction. Identification of CFTR -/- piglets is usually performed by PCR genotyping, a procedure that lasts between 4 to 6 h. Here, we aimed to develop a procedure for rapid identification of CFTR -/- piglets that will allow placing them under intensive care soon after birth and immediately proceeding with the surgical correction.Methods and Principal FindingsMale and female CFTR +/- pigs were crossed and the progeny was examined by computed tomography (CT) scan to detect the presence of meconium ileus and facilitate a rapid post-natal surgical intervention. Genotype was confirmed by PCR. CT scan presented a 94.4% sensitivity to diagnose CFTR -/- piglets. Diagnosis by CT scan reduced the birth-to-surgery time from a minimum of 10 h down to a minimum of 2.5 h and increased the survival of CFTR -/- piglets to a maximum of 13 days post-surgery as opposed to just 66 h after later surgery.ConclusionCT scan imaging of meconium ileus is an accurate method for rapid identification of CFTR -/- piglets. Early CT detection of meconium ileus may help to extend the lifespan of CFTR -/- piglets and, thus, improve experimental research on CF, still an incurable disease.

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