Volatile Organic Compounds in Exhaled Breath of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis for Discrimination from Healthy Subjects

Abstract

Purpose Human breath analysis is proposed with increasing frequency as a useful tool in clinical application. We performed this study to find the characteristic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the exhaled breath of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) for discrimination from healthy subjects. Methods VOCs in the exhaled breath of 40 IPF patients and 55 healthy controls were measured using a multi-capillary column and ion mobility spectrometer. The patients were examined by pulmonary function tests, blood gas analysis, and serum biomarkers of interstitial pneumonia. Results We detected 85 VOC peaks in the exhaled breath of IPF patients and controls. IPF patients showed 5 significant VOC peaks; p-cymene, acetoin, isoprene, ethylbenzene, and an unknown compound. The VOC peak of p-cymene was significantly lower (p < 0.001), while the VOC peaks of acetoin, isoprene, ethylbenzene, and the unknown compound were significantly higher (p < 0.001 for all) compared with the peaks of controls. Comparing VOC peaks with clinical parameters, negative correlations with VC (r =-0.393, p = 0.013), %VC (r =-0.569, p < 0.001), FVC (r = -0.440, p = 0.004), %FVC (r =-0.539, p < 0.001), DLco (r =-0.394, p = 0.018), and %DLco (r =-0.413, p = 0.008) and a positive correlation with KL-6 (r = 0.432, p = 0.005) were found for p-cymene. Conclusion We found characteristic 5 VOCs in the exhaled breath of IPF patients. Among them, the VOC peaks of p-cymene were related to the clinical parameters of IPF. These VOCs may be useful biomarkers of IPF.

Volatile organic compounds in ventilated critical care patients: a systematic evaluation of cofactors

“…Staphylococcus aureus , a common pulmonary pathogen in ventilated patients, is well known to produce a characteristic profile of 3-hydroxy-2-butanone and might be partly responsible for the evidence in exhaled breath [ 19 , 20 ]. Furthermore, acetoin in expired air might be released as a result of cellular damage due to the reactive oxygen species [ 21 ]. However, we detected acetoin in room air in high intensities as well.…”

“…However, we detected acetoin in room air in high intensities as well. 3-hydroxy-2-butanone is a known flavouring chemical, widely used for food, cigarettes, cosmetics, or detergents and detectable in the breath of healthy individuals as well, which might explain our findings [ 21 ]. Our results are generally consistent with Filipiak et al who determined that expired gas composition is altered by exogenous exposure including smoking and exposure to air pollutants.…”

“…Isoprene might be related to oxidative damage to the fluid lining of the lung and the body [ 27 , 28 ]. Patients with pulmonary fibrosis showed significant higher peak intensities of isoprene compared to healthy subjects [ 21 ]. Interestingly, the concentration of isoprene in expired human air is age dependent and shows a circadian rhythm with a maximum in the morning and lower concentrations in the evening [ 26 ].…”

BALSAM—An Interactive Online Platform for Breath Analysis, Visualization and Classification

“…Several technologies for VOC analysis have emerged in recent decades, allowing for potential non-invasive and rapid discovery of VOC patterns: electronic nose [ 7 , 8 ], gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [ 9 , 10 ], liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) [ 11 , 12 ] and multi-capillary-column ion-mobility-spectrometry [ 13 , 14 , 15 ] based devices are used for a majority of trials. MCC-IMS devices have seen an increase in popularity—e.g., in the detection of anesthetics in the workplace [ 16 ], accurate tracking and quantification of gaseous propofol concentration during surgery [ 17 ], identification of VOCs in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis [ 18 ] and for breast cancer detection [ 19 ].…”

Housing characteristics, home environmental factors, and pulmonary function deficit in Chinese children: Results from the Seven Northeast Cities (SNEC) Study

“…Efforts have been made to elucidate the contribution of modern building materials and furnishings to respiratory health, although causal links have yet to be established (Hulin et al 2012). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been associated with various measures of lung dysfunction (Billionnet et al 2011;Franck et al 2014;Sukul et al 2016;van Vliet et al 2017;Yamada et al 2017). Phthalates have also been implicated as a possible chemical exposure related to numerous developmental perturbations affecting children (Braun et al 2013;Huang et al 2015).…”