Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec 27;6(52):1403-1409.
doi: 10.46234/ccdcw2024.278.

Targeted Analysis of VOCS in Exhaled Breath of Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Patients, An Exploratory Study

Rui Gao  1   2   3 , Lijia Yu  1 , Qingyu Meng  1 , Yazhen He  1   2   3 , Fangda Peng  1   2 , Xiangfu Cao  1 , Qingjun Qian  1 , Qicai Liu  1 , Gaisheng Liu  4 , Fan Yang  4 , Yiwei Shi  5 , Qingsong Chen  3 , Chunguang Ding  1   2   3   5
Affiliations

Targeted Analysis of VOCS in Exhaled Breath of Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Patients, An Exploratory Study

Rui Gao et al. China CDC Wkly. .

Abstract

Introduction: Pneumoconiosis represents the most prevalent occupational disease in China, with coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) showing the highest incidence. Analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the exhaled breath of CWP patients may provide novel insights into its pathogenesis.

Methods: Study data were collected through questionnaires and medical examinations. Thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was employed for targeted VOC analysis. Differential VOCs were identified using OPLS-DA, the Mann-Whitney U test, and fold change analysis. The discriminatory efficacy of differential VOCs was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Spearman correlation analysis explored relationships between differential VOCs, lung function indices, and blood cell levels.

Results: The pneumoconiosis group showed elevated concentrations of 10 compounds, including isopentane, n-pentane, and isoprene, while four compounds, including 2,4-dimethylpentane, methylcyclohexane, 2,3,4-trimethylpentane, and 2-methylheptane showed decreased concentrations. Combined univariate and multivariate statistical analyses identified six significant VOCs, including isopentane and pentane. Notably, isopentane and n-pentane demonstrated negative correlations with forced vital capacity and levels, while 2-methylheptane showed positive correlations.

Discussion: Clear metabolic differences in VOCs exist between CWP patients and non-dust-exposed healthy controls. Six compounds - isopentane, n-pentane, 3-methylpentane, n-hexane, cyclohexane, and 2-methylheptane - in exhaled breath demonstrate potential as biomarkers for CWP.

Keywords: Exhaled breath; Pneumoconiosis; Potential biomarker; Volatile organic compounds.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Multivariate analysis model. (A) The mode of PCA between coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and control group; (B) The mode of OPLS-DA between coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and control group; (C) permutation tests of OPLS-DA models for coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and control group.Abbreviation: PCA=principal component analysis; OPLS-DA=orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation scatterplot. (A) Correlation analysis of isopentane and FVC (pre%); (B) Correlation analysis of isopentane and FEV1.0(pre%); (C) Correlation analysis of pentane and FVC (pre%); (D) Correlation analysis of pentane and FEV1.0 (pre%); (E) Correlation analysis of 2-methylpentane and FVC (pre%); (F) Correlation analysis of 2-methylpentane and FEV1.0 (pre%). Abbreviation: FVC=forced vital capacity; FEV1.0=forced expiratory volume in one second.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Boots AW, van Berkel JJBN, Dallinga JW, Smolinska A, Wouters EF, van Schooten FJ The versatile use of exhaled volatile organic compounds in human health and disease. J Breath Res. 2012;6(2):027108. doi: 10.1088/1752-7155/6/2/027108. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Di Natale C, Macagnano A, Martinelli E, Paolesse R, D’Arcangelo G, Roscioni C, et al Lung cancer identification by the analysis of breath by means of an array of non-selective gas sensors. Biosens Bioelectron. 2003;18(10):1209–18. doi: 10.1016/S0956-5663(03)00086-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Li ZT, Zeng PY, Chen ZM, Guan WJ, Wang T, Lin Y, et al Exhaled volatile organic compounds for identifying patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis. Front Med. 2021;8:720119. doi: 10.3389/FMED.2021.720119. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yamada YI, Yamada G, Otsuka M, Nishikiori H, Ikeda K, Umeda Y, et al Volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis for discrimination from healthy subjects. Lung. 2017;195(2):247–54. doi: 10.1007/s00408-017-9979-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zou YC, Wang Y, Jiang ZL, Zhou Y, Chen Y, Hu YJ, et al Breath profile as composite biomarkers for lung cancer diagnosis. Lung Cancer. 2021;154:206–13. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2021.01.020. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources