title: LC/MS/MS analysis of leukotriene B4 and other eicosanoids in exhaled breath condensate for assessing lung inflammation.
abstract: Leukotriene (LT) B(4) is a potent inflammatory lipid mediator that has been involved in the pathophysiology of respiratory diseases including asthma. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a non-invasive method to sample secretions from the airways. LC/MS/MS techniques for measuring LTB(4) concentrations in EBC have been developed and are suitable for an accurate quantitative assessment of its concentrations in EBC. LC/MS/MS for other eicosanoids including 8-isoprostane, a marker of oxidative stress, and cysteinyl-LTs have been developed. This article, mainly focused on LTB(4), presents the analytical aspects of the LC/MS/MS techniques for measuring LTB(4) and 8-isoprostane in EBC, provides examples of their application to the assessment of airway inflammation in patients with asthma and other respiratory diseases, and discusses their potential utility for non-invasive monitoring of drug therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Francesco Vito 1, Rome 00168, Italy. pmontuschi@rm.unicatt.it
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Montuschi
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000378:metabolism; D001944:Breath Tests; D002648:Child; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D015777:Eicosanoids / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007975:Leukotriene B4 / Q000032:analysis*; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015777:Eicosanoids; D007975:Leukotriene B4