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Reduced breath condensate pH in asymptomatic children with prior wheezing as a risk factor for asthma

Marie von Jagwitz1, Frank Pessler, Manas Akmatov

  • 1Division of Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergology, University Children's Hospital, Dresden, Germany.

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
|April 5, 2011
PubMed

Insights

A lower pH in exhaled breath condensate may help identify young children at high risk for asthma. This noninvasive method shows promise for early asthma detection in preschoolers.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Biochemistry
  • Diagnostic Medicine

Background:

  • Early detection of asthma risk in preschool children is challenging.
  • Noninvasive methods for asthma risk assessment are needed.
  • Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) pH measurement has not been widely applied in this age group.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate EBC pH measurement for identifying young, asymptomatic children at high risk of asthma.
  • To use recurrent wheezing and atopic sensitization as indicators of high asthma risk.
  • To assess the diagnostic accuracy of EBC pH in preschool children.

Main Methods:

  • Measured deaerated EBC pH in 191 children (median age 4.4 years).
  • Classified children into 5 groups based on symptoms and allergic status.
  • Utilized Asthma Predictive Index and receiver operating characteristic analysis.

Main Results:

  • Significantly lower EBC pH was observed in children with recurrent wheezy bronchitis (with or without sensitization) compared to controls.
  • EBC pH demonstrated good discriminatory accuracy (area under the curve ≥0.80).
  • Combining EBC pH with the Asthma Predictive Index improved differentiation between high-risk and asymptomatic children (area under the curve 0.94).

Conclusions:

  • Reduced deaerated EBC pH is a potential biomarker for identifying young children at high risk of asthma.
  • This noninvasive method offers a promising approach for early asthma detection in preschoolers.
  • Further validation may support the clinical use of EBC pH in pediatric asthma risk assessment.
Abstract

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