Respiratory Biomarkers: An Opportunity for Patient-Centric Microsampling Approach for Treatment Optimization

The clinical heterogeneity of respiratory disorders emphasizes the need for personalized approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. One approach to enhanced personalization of therapy is the identification of biomarkers for disease phenotype, severity, progression, and response to therapy. To date, several biomarkers have been developed for patients with respiratory diseases, and increasingly, blood-derived protein and peptide biomarkers are under investigation for their potential to achieve better control over respiratory diseases by stratifying patients for specific treatment regimens. However, identifying and quantifying these biomarkers in a routine setup is challenging because of the invasiveness involved in sample collection, the need for in-person clinical visits, and the need for skilled phlebotomy. Consequently, clinical biomarker measurements represent a single-time point indication of health on the day of attendance at a clinic and not necessarily an accurate longitudinal representation of the patient's condition. Micro-sampling techniques have developed the concept of patient-centric sampling with minimal invasiveness, with the goal of the patient taking their own blood sample in micro volumes that are sent for analysis in a centralized laboratory, all from the comfort of their home. While novel micro-sampling techniques have demonstrated promising results in quantifying drugs and proteins from blood, there is limited exploration within the domain of respiratory diseases' biomarkers. Hence, this article provides insights into novel respiratory biomarkers and a future that exploits micro-sampling tools in care pathways to optimize and individualize therapy for patients.