title: Impact of food intake on in vivo VOC concentrations in exhaled breath assessed in a caprine animal model.
abstract: Physiological processes within the body may change emitted volatile organic compound (VOC) composition, and may therefore cause confounding biological background variability in breath gas analyses. To evaluate the effect of food intake on VOC concentration patterns in exhaled breath, this study assessed the variability of VOC concentrations due to food intake in a standardized caprine animal model. VOCs in (i) alveolar breath gas samples of nine clinically healthy goats and (ii) room air samples were collected and pre-concentrated before morning feeding and repeatedly after (+60 min, +150 min, +240 min) using needle trap microextraction (NTME). Analysis of VOCs was performed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Only VOCs with significantly higher concentrations in breath gas samples compared to room air samples were taken into consideration. Six VOCs that belonged to the chemical classes of hydrocarbons and alcohols were identified presenting significantly different concentrations before and after feeding. Selected hydrocarbons showed a concentration pattern that was characterized by an initial increase 60 min after food intake, and a subsequent gradual decrease. Results emphasize consideration of physiological effects on exhaled VOC concentrations due to food intake with respect to standardized protocols of sample collection and critical evaluation of results.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Pathogenesis at 'Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut' (Federal Research Institute for Animal Health), Naumburger Str. 96a, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Sina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steffens
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trefz
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ziller
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Miekisch
authors.forename: Jochen S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Köhler
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reinhold
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods*; D045853:Exhalation; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006041:Goats; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D012015:Reference Standards; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds