Exhaled Volatile Organic Compounds during Inflammation Induced by TNF-α in Ventilated Rats
Frederic W. Albrecht,
Felix Maurer,
Lukas M. Müller-Wirtz,
Michaela H. Schwaiblmair,
Tobias Hüppe,
Beate Wolf,
Daniel I. Sessler,
Thomas Volk,
Sascha Kreuer,
Tobias Fink
Affiliations
Frederic W. Albrecht
CBR—Center of Breath Research, Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, Saarland University Medical Center and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany
Felix Maurer
CBR—Center of Breath Research, Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, Saarland University Medical Center and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany
Lukas M. Müller-Wirtz
CBR—Center of Breath Research, Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, Saarland University Medical Center and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany
Michaela H. Schwaiblmair
CBR—Center of Breath Research, Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, Saarland University Medical Center and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany
Tobias Hüppe
CBR—Center of Breath Research, Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, Saarland University Medical Center and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany
Beate Wolf
CBR—Center of Breath Research, Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, Saarland University Medical Center and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany
Daniel I. Sessler
Department of Outcomes Research, Anesthesiology Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
Thomas Volk
CBR—Center of Breath Research, Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, Saarland University Medical Center and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany
Sascha Kreuer
CBR—Center of Breath Research, Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, Saarland University Medical Center and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany
Tobias Fink
CBR—Center of Breath Research, Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, Saarland University Medical Center and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany
Systemic inflammation alters the composition of exhaled breath, possibly helping clinicians diagnose conditions such as sepsis. We therefore evaluated changes in exhaled breath of rats given tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to three groups (n = 10 each) with intravenous injections of normal saline (control), 200 µg·kg−1 bodyweight TNF-α (TNF-α-200), or 600 µg·kg−1 bodyweight TNF-α (TNF-α-600), and were observed for 24 h or until death. Animals were ventilated with highly-purified synthetic air to analyze exhaled air by multicapillary column–ion mobility spectrometry. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified from a database. We recorded blood pressure and cardiac output, along with cytokine plasma concentrations. Control rats survived the 24 h observation period, whereas mean survival time decreased to 22 h for TNF-α-200 and 23 h for TNF-α-600 rats. Mean arterial pressure decreased in TNF-α groups, whereas IL-6 increased, consistent with mild to moderate inflammation. Hundreds of VOCs were detected in exhalome. P-cymol increased by a factor-of-two 4 h after injection of TNF-α-600 compared to the control and TNF-α-200. We found that 1-butanol and 1-pentanol increased in both TNF-α groups after 20 h compared to the control. As breath analysis distinguishes between two doses of TNF-α and none, we conclude that it might help clinicians identify systemic inflammation.
