title: Human breath analysis may support the existence of individual metabolic phenotypes.
abstract: The metabolic phenotype varies widely due to external factors such as diet and gut microbiome composition, among others. Despite these temporal fluctuations, urine metabolite profiling studies have suggested that there are highly individual phenotypes that persist over extended periods of time. This hypothesis was tested by analyzing the exhaled breath of a group of subjects during nine days by mass spectrometry. Consistent with previous metabolomic studies based on urine, we conclude that individual signatures of breath composition exist. The confirmation of the existence of stable and specific breathprints may contribute to strengthen the inclusion of breath as a biofluid of choice in metabolomic studies. In addition, the fact that the method is rapid and totally non-invasive, yet individualized profiles can be tracked, makes it an appealing approach.
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martinez-Lozano Sinues
authors.forename: Malcolm
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kohler
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zenobi
mesh_terms: D000096:Acetone / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D001944:Breath Tests; D045853:Exhalation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D055442:Metabolome; D010641:Phenotype; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
chemical_list: D000096:Acetone