title: The scent of Mycobacterium tuberculosis--part II breath.
abstract: Recent figures show that tuberculosis (TB) is advancing and killing more than two million people annually, yet no breakthrough in rapid diagnostics is in sight. Volatile metabolites of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) may provide just that. It is well established that MTB produces nicotinic acid in vitro. We have converted the free acid into methyl nicotinate and detected statistically significant differences in the breath of smear positive patients compared with healthy (smear negative) subjects.
authors.affiliation: Otago University, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, New Zealand. mona.syhre@otago.ac.nz
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Syhre
authors.forename: Laurens
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.forename: Suparat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Phuanukoonnon
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Harino
authors.forename: Stephen T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chambers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D009539:Nicotinic Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D009539:Nicotinic Acids; C008473:methyl nicotinate