Abstract:
Analysis of volatile organic compounds in the breath for disease detection and monitoring
has gained momentum and clinical significance due to its rapid test results and non-invasiveness,
especially for diabetes mellitus (DM). Studies have suggested that breath gases, including acetone,
may be related to simultaneous blood glucose (BG) and blood ketone levels in adults with types 2 and
1 diabetes. Detecting altered concentrations of ketones in the breath, blood and urine may be crucial
for the diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes mellitus. This study assesses the e cacy of a simple
breath test as a non-invasive means of diabetes monitoring in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Human breath samples were collected in Tedlar bags and analyzed by headspace solid-phase
microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). The measurements
were compared with capillary BG and blood ketone levels ( -hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate)
taken at the same time on a single visit to a routine hospital clinic in 30 subjects with type 2 diabetes
and 28 control volunteers. Ketone bodies of diabetic subjects showed a significant increase when
compared to the control subjects; however, the ketone levels were was controlled in both diabetic and
non-diabetic volunteers. Worthy of note, a statistically significant relationship was found between
breath acetone and blood acetoacetate (R = 0.89) and between breath acetone and -hydroxybutyrate
(R = 0.82).
Description:
Figure S1: Reconstructed GC-MS ion chromatograms (m/z 181) of patient breath samples without insulin injection
(a), diabetic breath with insulin (b), and non-diabetic breath (c) sampled using on-fiber SPME derivatization with
PFBHA. Figure S2: The measured breath acetone concentration by SPME GC/MS and versus blood glucose in
diabetic patients.
