| dc.description.abstract | Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a progressive disease characterized by chronic infections and pulmonary
exacerbations, causing lung function decline and permanent tissue damage. Adequate
intervention, targeting exacerbation through antibiotic treatment is needed to preserve quality
of life. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath have been suggested as a new
biomarker for pathogen colonization and respiratory inflammation. Detection of pulmonary
exacerbation through exhaled breath analysis, using gas chromatography with mass
spectrometry (GC-MS) and electric nose (eNose), will allow for less invasive detection of
inflammation and avoid inadequate or unnecessary treatment.
This review assessed the potential of VOCs for predicting pulmonary exacerbation in
patients with CF based on recent studies in this field.
Studies included showed variety in study objectives, study population, methodology and
results on VOC findings.
Results show promising findings in exacerbation identification and prediction. However,
no ambiguous conclusion could be drawn after comparing the collected data, therefore not
providing selected VOCs or VOC-patterns specific for exacerbation detection. Variation in
results substantiates the observation that exhaled breath analysis is far from clinical
implementation. Future research should make use of universal protocols, include larger cohorts
and longitudinal data, and focus on discrimination between pathogen- and exacerbation-specific
VOCs by setting up fitting cohort studies and comparing findings to in-vitro studies. | |
