Metabonomic analysis of Exhaled Breath Condensate in adults by NMR spectroscopy

¹ Dept. of Respiratory Medicine, AO Monaldi, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples (Italy); Dept. of Respiratory Medicine, AO Monaldi, Seconda Università di Napoli, Naples (Italy); and GdL, DP and DM contributed equally to this work
² Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Pozzuoli, Naples (Italy); and GdL, DP and DM contributed equally to this work
³ Dept. of Respiratory Medicine, AO Monaldi, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples (Italy)
⁴ Dept. of Respiratory Medicine, AO Monaldi, Seconda Università di Napoli, Naples (Italy)
⁵ Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia (Italy)
⁶ Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Pozzuoli, Naples (Italy)

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: g.delaurentiis{at}hotmail.it.

	Abstract

Exhaled Breath Condensate (EBC) is a non-invasive method to study airway lining fluid. NuclearMagneticResonance (NMR) spectroscopy can provide biochemical profiles of metabolites in biological samples.

To validate the NMR-metabonomic analysis of EBC in adults, assessing the role of preanalytical variables (saliva and disinfectant contamination), and its potential clinical feasibility.

36 paired EBC and saliva samples, obtained from healthy subjects (HS), laryngectomized and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, were analyzed by means of ¹H-NMR spectroscopy followed by principal component analysis (PCA). The effect on EBC of disinfectant, used for reusable parts of the condenser, was assessed after different washing procedures. To evaluate intra-day-repeatability, 8 subjects were asked to collect EBC and saliva twice within the same day.

All NMR saliva spectra were significantly different from corresponding EBC samples, EBC taken from condenser washed with recommended procedures invariably showed spectra perturbed by disinfectant. Each EBC sample clustered with corresponding samples of the same group, while presenting intergroup qualitative and quantitative signal differences (94%).

The NMR-metabonomic approach could identify the metabolic fingerprint of EBC in different clinical sets of data. Moreover, metabonomics of EBC in adults can discriminate potential perturbations induced by preanalytical variables.

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