Yukai Wang, Zhifeng Tang, Tingting Zhao, Jianming Yang, Wei Zhang, Xue Li, Tao Huan

This work takes a typical real-time HRMS technique as an example, i.e. secondary electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry (SESI-HRMS), and presents BreathXplorer, an open-source Python package designed for the processing of real-time exhaled breath data comprising multiple exhalations. BreathXplorer is composed of four main modules…

Cedric Wüthrich，Albin Vadakkechira，Pascal Fuchsmann，Simon Wacker，Renato Zenobi, and Stamatios Giannouko

Secondary electrospray ionization coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (SESI-HRMS) is a powerful method for the analysis of exhaled breath in real time. However, feature annotation is challenging due to the flow-injection nature of the technique. To evaluate alternative methods for enhancing feature annotation, a study was conducted where…

Jonas Herth, Felix Schmidt, Sarah Basler, Noriane A Sievi and Malcolm Kohler

Exhaled breath analysis has emerged as a non-invasive and promising method for early detection of lung cancer, offering a novel approach for diagnosis through the identification of specific biomarkers present in a patient's breath…

M. Z. Islam, S. E. Räisänen, A. Schudel, K. Wang, T. He, C. Kunz, Y. Li, X. Ma, A. M. Serviento, Z. Zeng, F. Wahl, R. Zenobi, S. Giannoukos, and M. Niu.

Previously, we used secondary electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (SESI-MS) to investigate the diurnal patterns and signal intensities of exhaled (EX) volatile fatty acids (VFA) of dairy cows. The current study aimed to validate the potential of an exhalomics approach for evaluating rumen fermentation. The experiment was conducted in a switchback design, with 3 periods of 9 d each, including 7 d for adaptation and 2 d for sampling. Four rumen-cannulated original Swiss Brown (Braunvieh) cows were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 diet sequences (ABA or BAB): (A) low starch (LS; 6.31% starch on a dry matter basis) and (B) high starch (HS; 16.2% starch on a dry matter basis). Feeding was once per day at 0830 h. Exhalome (with the GreenFeed System), and rumen samples were collected 8 times to represent every 3 h of a day, and EX-VFA and ruminal (RM)-VFA were analyzed using SESI-MS and HPLC, respectively. Furthermore, the VFA concentration in the gas phase (HR-VFA) was predicted based on RMVFA and Henry’s Law (HR) constants….

Chen Tao, Peter Mettke, Yaru Wang, Xue Li, Ligang Hu

Highlights

• Near-surface ozone pollution has a significant impact on respiratory health.

• Lung microenvironment is involved in respiratory health effects of ozone pollution.

• Exhalation metabolomics provides a new method to explore the respiratory health effects of ozone pollution.

• Exhalation metabolomics could be a potential basis for concentration limits in ozone pollution control.

Mo Awchi, Kapil Dev Singh, Sara Bachmann Brenner, Marie-Anne Burckhardt, Melanie Hess, Jiafa Zeng, Alexandre N Datta, Urs Frey, Urs Zumsteg, Gabor Szinnai, Pablo Sinues

Purpose: This feasibility study aimed to investigate the use of exhaled breath analysis to capture and quantify relative changes of metabolites during resolution of acute diabetic ketoacidosis under insulin and rehydration therapy…

Cedric Wüthrich, Renato Zenobi, Stamatios Giannoukos

Rationale

Secondary-electrospray ionization (SESI) coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry is a powerful tool for the discovery of biomarkers in exhaled breath. A primary electrospray consisting of aqueous formic acid (FA) is currently used to charge the volatile organic compounds in breath. To investigate whether alternate electrospray compositions could enable different metabolite coverage and sensitivities, the electrospray dopants NaI and AgNO3 were tested….

Mateusz Fido, Simone Hersberger, Andreas Güntner, Renato Zenobi, Stamatios Giannoukos

Polymeric bags are a widely applied, simple, and cost-effective method for the storage and offline analysis of gaseous samples. Various materials have been used as sampling bags, all known to contain impurities and differing in their cost, durability, and storage capabilities. Herein, we present a comparative study of several well-known bag materials...

Cedric Wüthrich, Renato Zenobi, Stamatios Giannoukos

The mass spectrometer used in this study was an Orbitrap Q-Exactive Plus (Thermo Scientific) operated with the manufacturer’s standard control software (ExactiveTune, version 2.9, Thermo Scientific) and Xcalibur (version 4.1. 31.9, Thermo Scientific). Mass calibration was done according to the instrument manual and was always more recent than seven days according to specifications…

Stamatios Giannoukos, Cedric Wüthrich

This review discusses the technical aspects behind SESI, the advancements, and the technical hurdles faced. Additionally, the recent advances in the applications of SESI in human and animal-centered research are presented.

Wei Liu, Li Zhou, Wenting Yuan, Ling Ruan, Xinkai Wang, Yucong Guo, Zhouqing Xie, Qifan Liu, Chen Wang

This review article summarizes the principles of different online mass spectrometry techniques and their application to indoor VOC measurements. The sources, emission characteristics, and chemical compositions of primary indoor VOCs are discussed. Recent advances in the fundamental understanding of chemical transformations and formation mechanisms related to secondary indoor VOCs are also discussed

Rosa A Sola-Martínez, Jiafa Zeng, Mo Awchi, Amanda Gisler, Kim Arnold, Kapil Dev Singh, Urs Frey, Manuel Cánovas Díaz, Teresa de Diego Puente, Pablo Sinues

Secondary electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectrometry (SESI-HRMS) is an established technique in the field of breath analysis characterized by its short analysis time, as well as high levels of sensitivity and selectivity. Traditionally, SESI-HRMS has been used for real-time breath analysis, which requires subjects to be at the location of the analytical platform. Therefore, it limits the possibilities for an introduction of this methodology in day-to-day clinical practice. However, recent methodological developments have shown feasibility on the remote sampling of exhaled breath in Nalophan® bags prior to measurement using SESI-HRMS…

Fouad Choueiry, Rui Xu, Kelly Meyrath, Jiangjiang Zhu.

Secondary electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry (SESI-HRMS) is an innovative analytical technique for the rapid and non-invasive analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, compound annotation and ion suppression in the SESI source has hindered feature detection, stability and reproducibility of SESI-HRMS in untargeted volatilomics.

Fouad Choueiry, Andrew Gold, Rui Xu, Shiqi Zhang and Jiangjiang Zhu.

The symbiotic relationship between the gut microbial population is capable of regulating numerous aspects of host physiology, including metabolism. Bacteria can modulate the metabolic processes of the host by feeding on nutritional components within the lumen and releasing bioactive components into circulation. Endogenous volatile organic compound (VOC) synthesis is dependent on the availability of precursors found in mammalian metabolism

Cedric Wüthrich, Stamatios Giannoukos, Renato Zenobi

Ion suppression is a known matrix effect in electrospray ionization (ESI), ambient pressure chemical ionization (APCI), and desorption electrospray ionization (DESI), but its characterization in secondary electrospray ionization (SESI) is lacking. A thorough understanding of this effect is crucial for quantitative applications of SESI, such as breath analysis. In this study, gas standards were generated by using an evaporation-based system to assess the susceptibility and suppression potential of acetone, deuterated acetone, deuterated acetic acid, and pyridine. Gas-phase effects were found to dominate ion suppression, with pyridine exhibiting the most significant suppressive effect, which is potentially linked to its gas-phase basicity. The impact of increased acetone levels on the volatiles from exhaled breath condensate was also examined…

Mo Awchi, Kapil Dev Singh, Patricia E Dill, Urs Frey, Alexandre N Datta, and Pablo Sinues.

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of medications with a narrow therapeutic window is a common clinical practice to minimize toxic effects and maximize clinical outcomes. Routine analyses rely on the quantification of systemic blood concentrations of drugs. Alternative matrices such as exhaled breath are appealing because of their inherent non-invasive nature. This is especially the case for pediatric patients. We have recently

Bettina Streckenbach

Metabolomics, or the comprehensive study of metabolites and involved processes, provides insights into the current physiological state of humans. In the clinical setting, the detection and quantification of specific metabolites has proven to be invaluable in diagnostic testing. Herein, body samples that are non-invasively accessible are of particular interest…

M.Z. Islam, S. Giannoukos, Räisänen, K. Wang, X. Ma, F. Wahl, R. Zenobi, M. Niu.

To date, the commonly used methods to assess rumen fermentation are invasive. Exhaled breath contains hundreds of volatile organic compounds (VOC) that can reflect animal physiological processes. In the present study, for the first time, we aimed to use a non-invasive metabolomics approach based on high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify rumen fermentation parameters in dairy cows

Ronja Weber, Bettina Streckenbach, Lara Welti, Demet Inci, Malcolm Kohler, Nathan Perkins, Renato Zenobi, Srdjan Micic , and Alexander Moeller.

There is a need to improve the diagnosis and management of pediatric asthma. Breath analysis aims to address this by non-invasively assessing altered metabolism and disease-associated processes.

Kim Arnold, Philippe Dehio, Jonas Lötscher, Kapil Dev Singh, Diego García-Gómez, Christoph Hess, Pablo Sinues, and Maria L. Balmer

Dendritic cells (DCs) actively sample and present antigen to cells of the adaptive immune system and are thus vital for successful immune control and memory formation. Immune cell metabolism and function are tightly interlinked, and a better understanding of this interaction offers potential to develop immunomodulatory strategies. However, current approaches for assessing the immune cell metabolome are often limited by endpoint measurements, may involve laborious sample preparation, and may lack unbiased, temporal resolution of the metabolome. In this study, we present a novel setup coupled to a secondary electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectrometric (SESI-HRMS) platform allowing headspace analysis of immature andactivated DCs in real-time with minimal sample preparation and intervention, with high technical reproducibility and potential for automation.