Abstract
Fast diagnostic results using breath analysis are an anticipated possibility for disease diagnosis or general health screenings. Tests that do not require sending specimens to medical laboratories possess capabilities to speed patient diagnosis and protect both patient and healthcare staff from unnecessary prolonged exposure. The objective of this work was to develop testing procedures on an initial healthy subject cohort in Hawaii to act as a range-finding pilot study for characterizing the baseline of exhaled breath prior to further research. Using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC), this study analyzed exhaled breath from a healthy adult population in Hawaii to profile the range of different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and survey Hawaii-specific differences. The most consistently reported compounds in the breath profile of individuals were acetic acid, dimethoxymethane, benzoic acid methyl ester, and n-hexane. In comparison to other breathprinting studies, the list of compounds discovered was representative of control cohorts. This must be considered when implementing proposed breath diagnostics in new locations with increased interpersonal variation due to diversity. Further studies on larger numbers of subjects over longer periods of time will provide additional foundational data on baseline breath VOC profiles of control populations for comparison to disease-positive cohorts.
Highlights
Rapid, non-invasive breath screening is an attractive alternative test for diseases that commonly require lengthy diagnostic procedures, such as lung infections and certain cancers [1]
In order to distinguish between breath samples collected from human subjects in Hawaii which has not been done before, the most appropriate type of sorbent tube suitable for breath collection was first determined using gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
The Odour/Sulfur tubes should ideally improve sulfur compound recovery. These sorbent tubes were initially chosen in this study because they are comprised of specific sorbents to target breath volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and likely to perform well on generating breath profiles
Summary
Non-invasive breath screening is an attractive alternative test for diseases that commonly require lengthy diagnostic procedures, such as lung infections and certain cancers [1]. Invasive procedures such as bronchoscopy, bronchoalveolar lavage or lung biopsy must be performed to obtain tissue samples for information This is inherently challenging for certain patients as these procedures are invasive, may require sedation, are associated with significant morbidity, and in some cases even mortality. These procedures can be extremely unpleasant, for children and the elderly who must provide such samples. Breath collection can potentially be performed quickly and with minimal equipment for in situ healthcare offices or bedside monitoring. These implications could allow more frequent monitoring and potentially more rapid response to symptoms. Research has been performed regarding the application of breathomics during the current urgency for COVID-19 diagnosis and in differentiating the disease from other respiratory infections [4]
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