title: Nitric oxide in the exhaled breath condensate of healthy volunteers collected with a reusable device.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The analysis of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a non-invasive technique that enables the determination of several volatile and nonvolatile substances produced in the respiratory tract, whose measurement may be useful for the diagnosis and monitoring of several respiratory diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to produce a low-cost reusable device in order to sample exhaled breath condensate in healthy adult volunteers, and to determine the concentration of nitric oxide in the sample collected.
  
  
  METHODS
  The apparatus was made with a U-shaped tube of borosilicate glass. The tube was placed in a container with ice, and unidirectional respiratory valves were fitted to the distal end. Afterwards, nitric oxide was measured in the exhaled breath condensate (EBC) by chemiluminescence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total cost of the device was $120.20. EBC samples were obtained from 116 volunteers of both sexes, aged between 20 and 70. The mean volume of exhaled breath condensate collected during 10 minutes was 1.0 ± 0.6 mL, and the mean level of nitric oxide was 12.99 ± 14.38 μM (median 8.72 μM). There was no correlation between the nitric oxide levels in the exhaled breath condensate and age or gender.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrate that it is possible to fabricate a low-cost, efficient, reusable device in order to collect and determine nitric oxide levels in EBC. We have identified no correlation between the nitric oxide levels present in the EBC obtained with this method with either age or sex.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Cirugía y Anatomía, Escuela de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidad de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brasil. daniellaavento@usp.br
authors.forename: Daniella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alves Vento
authors.forename: Lívia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arcêncio
authors.forename: Alfredo José
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015925:Cryopreservation; D004867:Equipment Design; D017743:Equipment Reuse; D045853:Exhalation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000032:analysis*; D012016:Reference Values; D013048:Specimen Handling; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D009569:Nitric Oxide