Diagnostic value of a pattern of exhaled breath condensate biomarkers in asthmatic children

Abstract

An approach that involves a pattern of EBC biomarkers had a better diagnostic accuracy for asthma in children in real-life settings compared to a single one. Poor to moderate association of EBC biomarkers with lung function suggests a complementary value of EBC analysis for asthma diagnosis in children.

Transition and post-transition metals in exhaled breath condensate

“…Comparable results were observed in EBC collected from 22 healthy children and 17 asthmatics with the latter having a statistically significantly lower iron concentration (55). Another study with a small number of participants observed no significant differences in EBC iron concentration between asthmatics (n= 10) and non-asthmatics (n=16) (62). Using a “bleomycin technique for measurement of pro-oxidant iron”, there was an increase in EBC iron levels post-exposure to city environments among severe asthmatics (60).…”

Exhaled Breath Condensate in Childhood Asthma: A Review and Current Perspective

“…With respect to asthma control, pH was significantly decreased in a group of children with uncontrolled asthma as defined by GINA guidelines (21). However, in other recent studies, no significant difference in EBC pH was found between asthmatic and non-asthmatic children, nor between atopic and non-atopic asthma (20, 28). Nonetheless, sample sizes from both studies were small.…”

“…Although the aforementioned studies show intriguing findings, they should still be considered as part of a new or ongoing pilot project in which a single marker or analytical method is tested on EBC. Only one recent cross-sectional study tried to create a discriminative model using different EBC markers (20). In this study, a significant predictive model for asthma was created using six different biomarkers: pH, pCO 2 , pO 2 , magnesium, calcium, and urates (20).…”

“…Only one recent cross-sectional study tried to create a discriminative model using different EBC markers (20). In this study, a significant predictive model for asthma was created using six different biomarkers: pH, pCO 2 , pO 2 , magnesium, calcium, and urates (20). Still, diagnostic accuracy was only modest with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.698, positive predictive value (PPV) of 84%, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 39% (20).…”