ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to investigate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath as possible non-invasive markers to monitor the inflammatory response in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients as a result of repeated and prolonged moderate-intensity exercise. We included 18 IBD patients and 19 non-IBD individuals who each completed a 30, 40, or 50 km walking exercise over three consecutive days. Breath and blood samples were taken before the start of the exercise event and every day post-exercise to assess changes in the VOC profiles and cytokine concentrations. Proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) was used to measure exhaled breath VOCs. Multivariate analysis, particularly ANOVA-simultaneous component analysis (ASCA), was employed to extract relevant ions related to exercise and IBD. Prolonged exercise induces a similar response in breath butanoic acid and plasma cytokines for participants with or without IBD. Butanoic acid showed a significant correlation with the cytokine IL-6, indicating that butanoic acid could be a potential non-invasive marker for exercise-induced inflammation. The findings are relevant in monitoring personalized IBD management.
ABSTRACT
Heart failure (HF) is a clinical condition that presents high morbidity and mortality and is one of the main reasons for hospital admissions all over the world. Although biochemical processes that occur in the body during heart failure are known, this syndrome is still associated to poor prognosis. Exhaled breath analysis has emerged as a promising noninvasive tool in different clinical conditions and, recently, it has been also tested in patients with HF. This review presents the main breath HF biomarkers, which reflect metabolic changes that occur in this complex syndrome. It also discusses the diagnostic and prognostic value of exhaled breath compounds for HF and makes a short description of the main technologies involved in this analysis. Some perspectives on the area are presented as well.