Czech Society for Mass Spectrometry

(3rd Conference of the Czech Society for Mass Spectrometry - PL-2)
Mass spectrometric analysis of exhaled breath

Renato Zenobi ^1 *, Pablo Martinez-Lozano Sinues ¹, Lukas Bregy ¹, Xue Li ¹, Jingjing He ¹

1. ETH Zürich

Abstract

Ambient ionization mass spectrometry offers attractive new perspectives for real-time, on-line metabolic fingerprinting of the exhaled breath of patients as well as healthy individuals. We are using a nanoESI-based secondary electrospray ionization (SESI) as well as a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma ionization [1] maintained in an active sampling capillary to achieve efficient ambient ionization of compounds in exhaled breath. Both of these sources work at atmospheric pressure; ppb … ppt limits of detection can be achieved, and compounds with molecular weights up to 400 Da are observed.

A number of interesting questions about metabolic signatures in the body can be addressed: Is there a core pattern for individual phenotypes visible in mass spectrometric “breathprints” [2]? Can diurnal changes be monitored via exhaled breath [3]? Can diseases be diagnosed via exhaled breath, and if yes, which ones? Can proper drug use (or drug abuse) be detected via analysis of the chemical composition of exhaled breath? These studies have obvious ramification for using exhaled breath as a non-invasive alternative to the analysis of blood or urine in medical diagnosis, personalized medicine, doping control, forensics, and other areas.

* Corresponding author: zenobi@org.chem.ethz.ch

References

1. Nudnova M.M. et al.: Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 26, 1447-1452 (2012).
2. Martinez-Lozano Sinues P. et al.: PLoS ONE 8(4), e59909 (2013).
3. Martinez-Lozano Sinues P. et al.: Anal. Chem. 85, 369-373 (2013).