Journal of Breath Research 

About: Journal of Breath Research is an academic journal published by IOP Publishing. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Breath gas analysis & Exhaled breath condensate. It has an ISSN identifier of 1752-7155. Over the lifetime, 945 publications have been published receiving 24682 citations.

A review of the volatiles from the healthy human body

Abstract: A compendium of all the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emanating from the human body (the volatolome) is for the first time reported. 1840 VOCs have been assigned from breath (872), saliva (359), blood (154), milk (256), skin secretions (532) urine (279), and faeces (381) in apparently healthy individuals. Compounds were assigned CAS registry numbers and named according to a common convention where possible. The compounds have been grouped into tables according to their chemical class or functionality to permit easy comparison. Some clear differences are observed, for instance, a lack of esters in urine with a high number in faeces. Careful use of the database is needed. The numbers may not be a true reflection of the actual VOCs present from each bodily excretion. The lack of a compound could be due to the techniques used or reflect the intensity of effort e.g. there are few publications on VOCs from blood compared to a large number on VOCs in breath. The large number of volatiles reported from skin is partly due to the methodologies used, e.g. collecting excretions on glass beads and then heating to desorb VOCs. All compounds have been included as reported (unless there was a clear discrepancy between name and chemical structure), but there may be some mistaken assignations arising from the original publications, particularly for isomers. It is the authors' intention that this database will not only be a useful database of VOCs listed in the literature, but will stimulate further study of VOCs from healthy individuals. Establishing a list of volatiles emanating from healthy individuals and increased understanding of VOC metabolic pathways is an important step for differentiating between diseases using VOCs.

The human volatilome: volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath, skin emanations, urine, feces and saliva

Abstract: Breath analysis is a young field of research with its roots in antiquity. Antoine Lavoisier discovered carbon dioxide in exhaled breath during the period 1777-1783, Wilhelm (Vilem) Petters discovered acetone in breath in 1857 and Johannes Muller reported the first quantitative measurements of acetone in 1898. A recent review reported 1765 volatile compounds appearing in exhaled breath, skin emanations, urine, saliva, human breast milk, blood and feces. For a large number of compounds, real-time analysis of exhaled breath or skin emanations has been performed, e.g., during exertion of effort on a stationary bicycle or during sleep. Volatile compounds in exhaled breath, which record historical exposure, are called the 'exposome'. Changes in biogenic volatile organic compound concentrations can be used to mirror metabolic or (patho)physiological processes in the whole body or blood concentrations of drugs (e.g. propofol) in clinical settings-even during artificial ventilation or during surgery. Also compounds released by bacterial strains like Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Streptococcus pneumonia could be very interesting. Methyl methacrylate (CAS 80-62-6), for example, was observed in the headspace of Streptococcus pneumonia in concentrations up to 1420 ppb. Fecal volatiles have been implicated in differentiating certain infectious bowel diseases such as Clostridium difficile, Campylobacter, Salmonella and Cholera. They have also been used to differentiate other non-infectious conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, alterations in urine volatiles have been used to detect urinary tract infections, bladder, prostate and other cancers. Peroxidation of lipids and other biomolecules by reactive oxygen species produce volatile compounds like ethane and 1-pentane. Noninvasive detection and therapeutic monitoring of oxidative stress would be highly desirable in autoimmunological, neurological, inflammatory diseases and cancer, but also during surgery and in intensive care units. The investigation of cell cultures opens up new possibilities for elucidation of the biochemical background of volatile compounds. In future studies, combined investigations of a particular compound with regard to human matrices such as breath, urine, saliva and cell culture investigations will lead to novel scientific progress in the field.

The versatile use of exhaled volatile organic compounds in human health and disease

Abstract: Exhaled breath contains thousands of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of which the composition varies depending on health status. Various metabolic processes within the body produce volatile products that are released into the blood and will be passed on to the airway once the blood reaches the lungs. Moreover, the occurrence of chronic inflammation and/or oxidative stress can result in the excretion of volatile compounds that generate unique VOC patterns. Consequently, measuring the total amount of VOCs in exhaled air, a kind of metabolomics also referred to as breathomics, for clinical diagnosis and monitoring purposes gained increased interest over the last years. This paper describes the currently available methodologies regarding sampling, sample analysis and data processing as well as their advantages and potential drawbacks. Additionally, different application possibilities of VOC profiling are discussed. Until now, breathomics has merely been applied for diagnostic purposes. Exhaled air analysis can, however, also be applied as an analytical or monitoring tool. Within the analytic perspective, the use of VOCs as biomarkers of oxidative stress, inflammation or carcinogenesis is described. As monitoring tool, breathomics can be applied to elucidate the heterogeneity observed in chronic diseases, to study the pathogen(s) responsible for occurring infections and to monitor treatment efficacy.

Isoprene and acetone concentration profiles during exercise on an ergometer

Abstract: A real-time recording setup combining exhaled breath volatile organic compound (VOC) measurements by proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) with hemodynamic and respiratory data is presented. Continuous automatic sampling of exhaled breath is implemented on the basis of measured respiratory flow: a flow-controlled shutter mechanism guarantees that only end-tidal exhalation segments are drawn into the mass spectrometer for analysis. Exhaled breath concentration profiles of two prototypic compounds, isoprene and acetone, during several exercise regimes were acquired, reaffirming and complementing earlier experimental findings regarding the dynamic response of these compounds reported by Senthilmohan et al (2000 Redox Rep. 5 151-3) and Karl et al (2001 J. Appl. Physiol. 91 762-70). While isoprene tends to react very sensitively to changes in pulmonary ventilation and perfusion due to its lipophilic behavior and low Henry constant, hydrophilic acetone shows a rather stable behavior. Characteristic (median) values for breath isoprene concentration and molar flow, i.e., the amount of isoprene exhaled per minute are 100 ppb and 29 nmol min(-1), respectively, with some intra-individual day-to-day variation. At the onset of exercise breath isoprene concentration increases drastically, usually by a factor of ∼3-4 within about 1 min. Due to a simultaneous increase in ventilation, the associated rise in molar flow is even more pronounced, leading to a ratio between peak molar flow and molar flow at rest of ∼11. Our setup holds great potential in capturing continuous dynamics of non-polar, low-soluble VOCs over a wide measurement range with simultaneous appraisal of decisive physiological factors affecting exhalation kinetics. In particular, data appear to favor the hypothesis that short-term effects visible in breath isoprene levels are mainly caused by changes in pulmonary gas exchange patterns rather than fluctuations in endogenous synthesis.

Is breath acetone a biomarker of diabetes? A historical review on breath acetone measurements.

Abstract: Since the ancient discovery of the 'sweet odor' in human breath gas, pursuits of the breath analysis-based disease diagnostics have never stopped. Actually, the 'smell' of the breath, as one of three key disease diagnostic techniques, has been used in Eastern-Medicine for more than three thousand years. With advancement of measuring technologies in sensitivity and selectivity, more specific breath gas species have been identified and established as a biomarker of a particular disease. Acetone is one of the breath gases and its concentration in exhaled breath can now be determined with high accuracy using various techniques and methods. With the worldwide prevalence of diabetes that is typically diagnosed through blood testing, human desire to achieve non-blood based diabetic diagnostics and monitoring has never been quenched. Questions, such as is breath acetone a biomarker of diabetes and how is the breath acetone related to the blood glucose (BG) level (the golden criterion currently used in clinic for diabetes diagnostic, monitoring, and management), remain to be answered. A majority of current research efforts in breath acetone measurements and its technology developments focus on addressing the first question. The effort to tackle the second question has begun recently. The earliest breath acetone measurement in clearly defined diabetic patients was reported more than 60 years ago. For more than a half-century, as reviewed in this paper, there have been more than 41 independent studies of breath acetone using various techniques and methods, and more than 3211 human subjects, including 1581 healthy people, 242 Type 1 diabetic patients, 384 Type 2 diabetic patients, 174 unspecified diabetic patients, and 830 non-diabetic patients or healthy subjects who are under various physiological conditions, have been used in the studies. The results of the breath acetone measurements collected in this review support that many conditions might cause changes to breath acetone concentrations; however, the results from the six independent studies using clearly-defined Type 1 and Type 2 diabetic patients unanimously support that an elevated mean breath acetone concentration exists in Type 1 diabetes. Note that there is some overlap between the ranges of breath acetone concentration in individual T1D patients and healthy subjects; this reminds one to be careful when using an acetone breath test on T1D diagnostics. Comparatively, it is too early to draw a general conclusion on the relationship between a breath acetone level and a BG level from the very limited data in the literature.