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Updated: May 10, 2025

Breath Collection from Children for Disease Biomarker Discovery
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Uncovering Non-Invasive Biomarkers in Paediatric Severe Acute Asthma Using Targeted Exhaled Breath Analysis

Sarah van den Berg1,2, Annabel S Zaat3, Isabel F van der Poel3

  • 1Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Emma Children's Hospital, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Location AMC, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Metabolites
|April 25, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Exhaled breath analysis can identify specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in children with severe acute asthma (SAA). This non-invasive method shows promise for early detection and intervention in pediatric asthma patients.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Metabolomics
  • Biomarker Discovery

Background:

  • Severe acute asthma (SAA) in children presents a growing challenge, with increasing pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions.
  • The complex pathophysiology of asthma requires further exploration to understand its heterogeneous nature.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the utility of non-invasive targeted exhaled breath metabolomics for characterizing SAA in children.
  • To identify potential biomarkers for early recognition and intervention in pediatric severe asthma.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized thermal desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) to analyze breath samples.
  • Compared volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles from 17 children with SAA (cases) against 27 children with controlled severe asthma (controls).

Main Results:

  • Identified 25 VOCs, with 16 common to both groups.
  • Found four VOCs more frequently present and nine VOCs at higher concentrations in children with SAA.
  • Longitudinal analysis of 10 cases confirmed the reproducibility of identified VOC biomarkers.

Conclusions:

  • Exhaled breath analysis offers valuable insights into the molecular underpinnings of SAA.
  • Breath metabolomics holds potential for early detection of severe asthma exacerbations and guiding preventive therapies in children.
Abstract

Keywords:
breathomicspaediatric intensive care unitpaediatricssevere acute asthmathermal desorption gas chromatography–mass spectrometryvolatile organic compounds

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