title: Breath tests in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.
abstract: Since the time of Hippocrates, physicians have known that the odour of human breath can provide clues to diagnosis. In the past, hydrogen peroxide which is a marker of inflammatory diseases and oxidative stress was the most studied substance in the exhaled breath which was detectable in the liquid that obtained by condensing or cooling. The advantages of breath analysis are that it is convenient, non-invasive, and could be performed with children as well as mechanically ventilated patients. Today, exhaled nitric oxide has been studied extensively, especially in relation to asthma. More than a thousand different volatile organic compounds have been observed in low concentrations in normal human breath. Alkanes and methylalkanes have been increasingly used by physicians as a novel method to diagnose many diseases without discomforts of invasive procedures. Although the limitations of measurement of exhaled nitric oxide in direct diagnosis of infectious pulmonary TB, it may have potential development as a cost-effective replacement of chest radiological examination in screening algorithms. None of the individual exhaled volatile organic compound alone is specific for disease. Exhaled breath analysis techniques may be available to diagnose and monitor the diseases in home setting when their sensitivity and specificity are expected to improve in the future. Here, we also discussed some patents related to the topic.
authors.forename: Attapon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cheepsattayakorn
authors.affiliation: 10th Zonal Tuberculosis and Chest Disease Center, 143 Sridornchai Road Changklan Muang Chiang Mai 50100 Thailand, 10th Office of Disease Prevention and Control, Chiang Mai, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. attaponche@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ruangrong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cheepsattayakorn
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D001944:Breath Tests; D006801:Humans; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000032:analysis; D010330:Patents as Topic; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; D009569:Nitric Oxide