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In breath analysis, ambient air contaminations are ubiquitous and difficult to eliminate. This study was designed to investigate the reduction of ambient air background by a lung wash-out with synthetic air. The reduction of the initial ambient air volatile organic compound (VOC) intensity was investigated in the breath of 20 volunteers inhaling synthetic air via a sealed full face mask in comparison to inhaling ambient air. Over a period of 30 minutes, breath analysis was conducted using ion mobility spectrometry coupled to a multi-capillary column. A total of 68 VOCs were identified for inhaling ambient air or inhaling synthetic air. By treatment with synthetic air, 39 VOCs decreased in intensity, whereas 29 increased in comparison to inhaling ambient air. In total, seven VOCs were significantly reduced (P-value < 0.05). A complete wash-out of VOCs in this setting was not observed, whereby a statistically significant reduction up to 65% as for terpinolene was achieved. Our setting successfully demonstrated a reduction of ambient air contaminations from the airways by a lung wash-out with synthetic air.
Rats are commonly used in medical research as they enable a high grade of standardization. The exhalome of ventilated rats has not as yet been investigated using an ion mobility spectrometer coupled with a multi-capillary column (MCC-IMS). As a first step, a rat model has to be established to measure potential biomarkers in the exhale with long-term settings, allowing constant and continuous analysis of exhaled air in time series. Therefore, eight animals were anaesthetized, prepared and ventilated for 1 h. A total of 73 peaks were directly detected with the IMS chromatogram. Thirty five of them were assigned to the ventilator system and 38 to the animals. Peak intensity varied within three measurements. The intensity of analytes of individual rats varied by a factor of up to 18. This new model will also enable continuous measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from rat's breath in long-term experiments. It is hoped that, in the future, variability and progression of VOCs can be monitored in different models of diseases using this set-up.