Exhaled breath condensate biomarkers in critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients.

Pneumonia is a significant risk for critically ill, mechanically ventilated (CIMV) patients. Diagnosis of pneumonia generally requires a combination of clinician-guided diagnoses and clinical scoring systems. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) can be safely collected non-invasively from CIMV patients. Hundreds of biomarkers in EBC are associated with acute disease states, including pneumonia. We evaluated cytokines in EBC from CIMV patients and hypothesized that these biomarkers would correlate with disease severity in pneumonia, sepsis, and death. EBC IL-2 levels were associated with chest radiograph severity scores (odds ratio = 1.68; 95% confidence interval = 1.09–2.60; P = 0.02). EBC TNF-α levels were also associated with pneumonia (odds ratio = 3.20; 95% confidence interval = 1.19–8.65; P = 0.02). The techniques and results from this study may be useful for all mechanically ventilated patients..

Impact/Purpose

This manuscript shows that the use of exhaled breath biomarkers can be utilized to demonstrate the severity and outcomes of various human sickness and disease states. Additionally the quantitative range of breath biomarkers was further extended and validated by using diseased and sick populations. This validation of the analytical methodology with a wide dynamic range allows for further use of breath biomarkers in human cohorts exposed to pollutants.

Citation

Davis, M., B. Winters, M. Madden, J. Pleil, C. Sessler, A. Wallace, C. Ward-Caviness, AND A. Montpetit. Exhaled breath condensate biomarkers in critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients. Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol, UK, 15(1):1752-7163, (2021). [DOI: 10.1088/1752-7163/abc235]

DOI: Exhaled breath condensate biomarkers in critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients.