Exploring exhaled breath volatile organic compounds in occupational asthma: A pilot cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Respiratory Medicine
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Occupational asthma (OA) presents diagnostic challenges, with irritant-induced asthma (IIA) having distinct subtypes.
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath are increasingly recognized as indicators of metabolic changes and disease states.
• No prior studies have investigated breath VOCs specifically in the context of occupational asthma.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify potential breath VOC biomarkers for distinguishing occupational asthma (OA) from healthy controls.
• To explore VOC profiles for differentiating between OA subgroups.
• To establish breath VOCs as indicators of occupational exposure and improve asthma diagnostics.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 40 OA patients and 45 healthy healthcare workers.
• Exhaled breath collection using the ReCIVA® Breath Sampler.
• Untargeted analysis of VOCs via thermal desorption-gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS), with identification based on tier classification and statistical analysis (p<0.05).

Main Results:

• Identification of 536 VOCs in exhaled breath samples.
• Significant differences in specific VOCs, including 1-hexadecanol, 2,3-butanediol, xylene, phenol, acetone, 3-methylhexane, methylcyclohexane, and isoprene.
• Certain VOCs (1-hexadecanol, 2,3-butanediol, xylene, phenol) are linked to mechanisms implicated in asthma, such as altered NADH and ROS production.

Conclusions:

• Breath VOCs show promise as non-invasive biomarkers for occupational asthma.
• Identified VOCs may reflect occupational exposures, metabolic alterations, and microbiome changes.
• This research supports the potential of exhaled VOC analysis to enhance the diagnostic accuracy of occupational asthma.