Research Proposal

Research Proposal on breath metabolite profiling in asthma exacerbations and severe asthma

            The research proposal aims at studying breath metabolite profiling in patients with asthma exacerbations and severe asthma. The research will be based on online proton transfer mass spectroscopy as a method of analysis. Proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry provides rapid and direct measurement with a highly informative analytical output. The approach has been used for the analysis of microbial metabolites which consist of volatile organic compounds and termed as lipophilic with low molecular weight and high vapor pressure at room temperatures. The physical characteristics of the compounds allow them to pass across cellular membranes with free emission to the surrounding environment (Romano, Capozzi, Spano & Biasioli, 2015).

            Ruzsanyi (2013) explains that breath analysis is a non-invasive method used for diagnosing and therapeutic monitoring. The analysis involves the use of endogenously produced compounds and metabolites having isotopically labeled precursors. Breath analysis is suitable for pharmacokinetic applications using multi-capillary column-ion mobility spectrometry (MCC-IMS). Validation of the MCC-IMS is performed using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) which provides excellent results. According to Pereira, et al., (2015), breath analysis is a non-invasive approach that relies on the characterization of the volatile composition of the exhaled breath (EB).  The analysis reflects the volatile composition of the blood stream and airways as well as the status and condition of the entire organism metabolism. Advanced sampling procedures like solid-phase and needle strap microextraction combined with modern methods like proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry allow the characterization of exhaled breath composition to a certain level. The method of analysis using proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) provides a real-time, on-line determination of concentrations of volatile organic compounds using high sensitivity and low detection limits (Zhan, Duan & Duan, 2013).

            The study will be based at a hospital in Leicester city and will involve recruiting 200 patients with asthma exacerbation to take part. There will no specific age groups targeted. The study will run for two years after which the collected data will be analyzed.

References

Pereira, J., Porto-Figueira, P., Cavaco, C., Taunk, K., Rapole, S., Dhakne, R., ... & Câmara, J. S. (2015). Breath analysis as a potential and non-invasive frontier in disease diagnosis: an overview. Metabolites, 5(1), 3-55.

Romano, A., Capozzi, V., Spano, G., & Biasioli, F. (2015) Proton transfer reaction–mass spectrometry: online and rapid determination of volatile organic compounds of microbial origin: Applied microbiology and biotechnology, 99(9), 3787-3795 DOI 10.1007/s00253-015-6528-y

Ruzsanyi, V. (2013) Ion mobility spectrometry for pharmacokinetic studies-–exemplary application: Journal of breath research, 7(4), 046008. doi:10.1088/1752-7155/7/4/046008.

Zhan, X., Duan, J., & Duan, Y. (2013) Recent developments of proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR‐MS) and its applications in medical research. Mass spectrometry reviews, 32(2), 143-165.

        

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