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Exhaled Pentane May Be an Effective Breath Test for Cystic Fibrosis: Presented at ERS

By Paula Moyer

MUNICH, GERMANY -- September 8, 2006 -- Measurement of exhaled pentane may help physicians diagnose cystic fibrosis more accurately, according to investigators who presented their findings here at the 16^th annual meeting of the European Respiratory Society (ERS).

Assessment of cystic fibrosis is challenging because one of its features, chronic inflammation, is shared by other respiratory conditions, said principal investigator Michael Barker, MD, consultant physician in pediatrics and pulmonology, University of Aachen, Aachen, Germany. Therefore, investigators have been examining exhaled breath biomarkers, including pentane, a hydrocarbon release from lipid peroxidation.

In the study he discussed on September 6^th, Dr. Barker and his co-investigators measured n-pentane levels in the breath of 20 patients already diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and compared them to those of 20 healthy control subjects. Participants were 8 to 29 years old.

The investigators collected from each participant one ambient and three exhaled air samples and analyzed them using a customized gas chromatography system. After identifying an average intra-subject coefficient of variation of 18%, the investigators subtracted inhaled pentane concentrations from breath levels to determine alveolar gradients.

Participants with cystic fibrosis had an average pentane output of 359 parts per trillion volume (pptv) compared with an average of 211 pptv in controls (P <.05).

Exhaled pentane was significantly correlated with lung function as defined by forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁) (r=-0.62, P <.005). Exhaled pentane was also correlated with nutritional status as defined by body mass index (BMI) Z-score (r=-0.49, P <.05), and with colonization with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P <.001).

The investigators detected no differences between the patients with cystic fibrosis and controls regarding their exhaled ethane or propane.


[Presentation title: Exhaled Pentane – a New Breath Test in Cystic Fibrosis? Abstract 4826]

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