TY  - JOUR
A1  - Barucha, Anton
A1  - Mauch, Renan Marrichi
A1  - Duckstein, Franziska
A1  - Zagoya, Carlos
A1  - Mainz, Jochen G.
T1  - The potential of volatile organic compound analysis for pathogen detection and disease monitoring in patients with cystic fibrosis
JF  - Expert review of respiratory medicine
N2  - Introduction Airway infection with pathogens and its associated pulmonary exacerbations (PEX) are the major causes of morbidity and premature death in cystic fibrosis (CF). Preventing or postponing chronic infections requires early diagnosis. However, limitations of conventional microbiology-based methods can hamper identification of exacerbations and specific pathogen detection. Analyzing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in breath samples may be an interesting tool in this regard, as VOC-biomarkers can characterize specific airway infections in CF. Areas covered We address the current achievements in VOC-analysis and discuss studies assessing VOC-biomarkers and fingerprints, i.e. a combination of multiple VOCs, in breath samples aiming at pathogen and PEX detection in people with CF (pwCF). We aim to provide bases for further research in this interesting field. Expert opinion Overall, VOC-based analysis is a promising tool for diagnosis of infection and inflammation with potential to monitor disease progression in pwCF. Advantages over conventional diagnostic methods, including easy and non-invasive sampling procedures, may help to drive prompt, suitable therapeutic approaches in the future. Our review shall encourage further research, including validation of VOC-based methods. Specifically, longitudinal validation under standardized conditions is of interest in order to ensure repeatability and enable inclusion in CF diagnostic routine.
KW  - Breath analysis
KW  - cystic fibrosis
KW  - pathogens
KW  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa
KW  - volatile organic compounds
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/17476348.2022.2104249
SN  - 1747-6348
SN  - 1747-6356
VL  - 16
IS  - 7
SP  - 723
EP  - 735
PB  - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
CY  - Abingdon
ER  -