Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026
11:02
Identification and Quantification of Deranged Metabolites in Critically Ill Patients Using NMR-Based Metabolomics
Published on: November 29, 2024
Elucidating 6PPD-Q-Induced Metabolic Reprogramming and Systemic Injury via Ultrasensitive Breathomics
Jiawei Dong1, Bo Yang1, Qirun Li1
1National Engineering Laboratory for VOCs Pollution Control Material & Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China.
Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)
|August 3, 2026
Summary
This study reveals how tire chemical 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-Q) harms multiple organs through metabolic and genetic damage. A new breath test offers a noninvasive way to monitor these toxic effects in populations.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Toxicology
- Biomarker Discovery
Background:
- 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-Q), a tire-derived contaminant, presents emerging health risks.
- Systemic toxicity mechanisms and noninvasive monitoring tools for 6PPD-Q are lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To mechanistically assess 6PPD-Q-induced toxicity in mice.
- To identify noninvasive breath biomarkers for monitoring 6PPD-Q exposure and its effects.
- To establish a "breath-blood-organ" framework linking exhaled compounds to internal pathology.
Main Methods:
- Utilized ultrasensitive photoinduced associative ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PAI-TOFMS).
- Integrated multi-organ transcriptomics and serum metabolomics.
- Developed and validated a five-analyte breath panel.
Main Results:
- Identified a robust breath panel correlating with organ-level molecular perturbations.
- Linked specific exhaled compounds (acetaldehyde, dimethyl disulfide, trimethylamine, monochloramine, 3-buten-2-one) to distinct organ toxicities and metabolic dysfunctions.
- Demonstrated consistency between breath signatures and internal tissue pathology.
Conclusions:
- Elucidated the multi-organ toxicity of 6PPD-Q via a metabolic-genotoxic axis.
- Provided a validated noninvasive toolkit for environmental epidemiology and population health screening.
- Highlighted the utility of breath analysis for monitoring chemical exposures and their health impacts.
