Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Fast and Accurate Exhaled Breath Ammonia Measurement
Published on: June 11, 2014
Does consumption of ethanol distort measurements of exhaled nitric oxide?
A Wayne Jones1, Monika Fransson, Elisa Maldonado-Holmertz
1Department of Forensic Toxicology, University Hospital, SE-581 85 Linköping, Sweden. wayne.jones@rmv.se
Background:
Measuring FE(NO) is a novel and non-invasive way to monitor airway inflammation (e.g. asthma). This clinical study was designed to investigate whether drinking ethanol might distort FE(NO) measurements.
Methods:
Twenty healthy subjects drank 0.40 g ethanol/kg body weight in 15 min. Measurement of FE(NO) started approximately 30 min before drinking and at various times afterwards for 4 h post-dosing. Ethanol concentrations were determined in venous blood by gas chromatography and in end-exhaled breath by infra-red spectrometry.
Results:
The within subject standard deviation for determination of FE(NO) was 1.3 ppb, corresponding to a CV of 7.7%. The mean change in FE(NO) from pre-drinking levels during the 4h testing was statistically significant (P<0.001) according to repeated measures ANOVA. In absolute units the mean change was small, -2.01 and -1.94 ppb at 3 and 4h post-dosing, respectively (P<0.013, P<0.005).
Conclusions:
FE(NO) measurements were reproducible even in subjects with moderate concentrations of ethanol in blood and breath. The small decrease in FE(NO) observed at 3 and 4 h post-drinking was less than the intra-subject variations in FE(NO) measurements. The breath-alcohol concentrations in this study exceed all other endogenous volatiles, thus making it unlikely that other substances in human breath will bias the FE(NO) measurements.
