Breath Biomarkers of Influenza Infection

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Respiratory Medicine
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are systemic byproducts of physiological states like oxidative stress.
• Exhaled breath contains VOCs that may serve as indicators for respiratory infections.
• Preliminary data suggest breath testing is a viable diagnostic method for viral respiratory illnesses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of breath volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as biomarkers for influenza.
• To develop a breath test capable of accurately diagnosing influenza in patients with influenza-like illness (ILI).

Main Methods:

• Collected breath samples from 237 patients with ILI over two years.
• Analyzed VOCs using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
• Utilized polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for influenza confirmation and biomarker analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified 20 candidate VOCs that distinguished influenza patients from non-influenza patients.
• Developed a predictive algorithm using 4 VOC biomarkers with 78% accuracy (74% sensitivity, 70% specificity).
• The identified biomarkers were primarily n-alkane derivatives, suggesting a link to oxidative stress.

Conclusions:

• Breath VOC analysis accurately identified influenza in ILI patients.
• Findings support the feasibility of a rapid, point-of-care influenza diagnostic test using breath VOCs.
• Future research will focus on simplifying breath collection methods for clinical translation.