title: Increased levels of ethane, a non-invasive, quantitative, direct marker of n-3 lipid peroxidation, in the breath of patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: This study directly assessed whether there was a change in the level of exhaled ethane, which provides a non-invasive, quantitative, direct measure of n-3 lipid peroxidation, in the breath of patients with schizophrenia. Samples of alveolar air were obtained from 20 subjects with schizophrenia and 23 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. The air samples were analyzed for ethane using mass spectrometry. The mean level of ethane in the schizophrenia sample [5.15 (S.E. 0.56) ppb] was significantly higher than that of the healthy controls [2.63 (S.E. 0.31) ppb; p<0.0005]. A further sub-analysis showed that nicotine dependence was unlikely to be the cause of this difference. These results suggest that the measurement of exhaled ethane levels may offer a non-invasive direct biomarker of increased n-3 lipid peroxidation in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: MRI Unit, Imaging Sciences Department, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, England, W12 0HS, UK. basant.puri@csc.mrc.ac.uk
authors.forename: Basant K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Puri
authors.forename: Brian M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Ian H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Treasaden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004980:Ethane / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004980:Ethane