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Breath Collection from Children for Disease Biomarker Discovery
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Iron and ferritin concentrations in exhaled breath condensate of children with asthma

Z Vlasić1, S Dodig, I Cepelak

  • 1Srebrnjak Children's Hospital, Reference Center for Clinical Pediatric Allergology of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Zagreb, Croatia.

The Journal of Asthma : Official Journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma
|February 5, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Asthma patients exhibit lower iron levels and higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). This study shows EBC analysis can detect these differences, aiding asthma diagnostics.

Area of Science:

  • Pulmonary Medicine
  • Biochemistry
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Iron homeostasis is crucial for respiratory health.
  • Imbalances in iron can impair lung function.
  • Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a non-invasive sample for respiratory analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if iron and ferritin can be measured in EBC of children.
  • To investigate differences in EBC iron, ferritin, and oxidative stress markers between healthy children and those with asthma.
  • To assess the potential of EBC analysis for asthma-related biomarkers.

Main Methods:

  • Collected EBC from 39 children (22 healthy, 17 with asthma) using an EcoScreen condenser.
  • Quantified iron and ferritin concentrations in EBC.
  • Measured superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (F(E)NO) as markers of oxidative stress and inflammation.

Main Results:

  • Asthma patients showed significantly lower EBC iron concentrations (p = 0.0001) and higher SOD activity (p = 0.0160) compared to controls.
  • No significant difference in ferritin levels was observed (p = 0.5252), though some asthmatics had elevated levels.
  • Asthma group had significantly higher F(E)NO values (p = 0.0047).

Conclusions:

  • Iron and ferritin can be determined in EBC from children.
  • Significant differences in EBC iron and SOD activity exist between children with asthma and healthy controls.
  • EBC analysis holds promise for identifying biomarkers related to asthma pathophysiology.

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