Ievgeniia Kushch et al 2008 J. Breath Res. 2 026002 doi:10.1088/1752-7155/2/2/026002
Ievgeniia Kushch1,2, Konrad Schwarz1,2, Lukas Schwentner1,2, Bettina Baumann1,2, Alexander Dzien3, Alex Schmid2,4, Karl Unterkofler2,4, Günter Gastl2,5, Patrik Španěl2,6, David Smith2,7 and Anton Amann1,2
Show affiliationsA pilot study has been carried out to define typical characteristics of the trace gas compounds in exhaled breath of non-smokers and smokers to assist interpretation of breath analysis data from patients who smoke with respiratory diseases and lung cancer. Exhaled breath was analyzed using proton transfer reaction–mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) for 370 volunteers (81 smokers, 210 non-smokers, 79 ex-smokers). Volatile organic compounds corresponding to product ions at seven mass-to-charge ratios (m/z 28, 42, 69, 79, 93, 97, 123) in the PTR-MS spectra differentiated between smokers and non-smokers. The Youden index (= maximum of sensitivity + specificity − 1, YI) as a measure for differentiation between smokers and non-smokers was YI = 0.43 for ions at the m/z values 28 (tentatively identified as HCN), YI = 0.75 for m/z = 42 (tentatively identified as acetonitrile) and YI = 0.53 for m/z = 79 (tentatively identified as benzene). No statistically significant difference between smokers and non-smokers was observed for the product ions at m/z = 31 and 33 (compounds tentatively identified as formaldehyde and methanol). When interpreting the exhaled breath of lung cancer or COPD patients, who often smoke, compounds appearing at the above-mentioned seven mass-to-charge ratios should be considered with appropriate care to avoid misdiagnosis. Validation studies in larger numbers of patients with more precise delineation of their smoking behavior and using additional analytical techniques such as GC/MS and SIFT-MS should be carried out.
Issue 2 (June 2008)
Received 10 May 2007, accepted for publication 18 January 2008
Published 28 February 2008
Ievgeniia Kushch et al 2008 J. Breath Res. 2 026002
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