Exhaled human breath analysis in active pulmonary tuberculosis diagnostics by comprehensive gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and chemometric techniques

In this study, we investigate the possibility of using
human breath for the diagnosis of active TB among TB suspect patients, considering also several risk
factors for TB for smokers and those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The analysis of
exhaled breath, as an alternative to sputum-dependent tests, has the potential to provide a simple,
fast, non-invasive, and readily available diagnostic service that could positively change TB
detection. A total of 50 individuals from a clinic in South Africa were included in this pilot
study. Human breath has been investigated in the setting of active TB using the thermal
desorption-comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography –time of flight mass spectrometry
methodology and chemometric techniques. From the entire spectrum of volatile metabolites in breath,
three machine learning algorithms...

Source: Journal of Breath Research - November 5, 2018 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Marco Beccaria, Carly Bobak, Boitumelo Maitshotlo, Theodore R Mellors, Giorgia Purcaro, Flavio A Franchina, Christiaan A Rees, Mavra Nasir, Andrew Black and Jane E Hill Source Type: research