Exhaled breath analysis - quantifying the storage of lipophilic compounds in the human body

Real-time analysis of exhaled breath is a promising new method to get quantitative information on lipophilic compounds stored in the human body. Some pilot results are presented on isoprene, which is produced as a by-product of the cholesterol synthesis and appears in exhaled breath at concentrations of about 100 parts-per-billion (ppb). The results have been obtained using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) from healthy volunteers undergoing an ergometer challenge test (with 75 W). Peak exhalation flow of isoprene is about 400 nmol/min shortly after start of the challenge. The setup holds great potential in capturing continuous dynamics of non-polar, low-soluble VOCs over a wide measurement range with simultaneous recording of physiological parameters affecting exhalation kinetics.

Przedstawiono wstępne wyniki oznaczenia stężenia izoprenu w wydechu zdrowego człowieka. Izopren jest produktem ubocznym reakcji syntezy cholesterolu. Do oznaczenia zastosowano metodę reakcji przeniesienia protonu przy wykorzystaniu spektrometrii mas (PTR-MS).