Increased IL-6 and IL-4 in exhaled breath condensate of patients with nasal polyposis.

Abstract BACKGROUND AND AIM: Nasal polyposis (NP) occurs in about 1-4% of the worldwide population. Increased plasma concentrations of different pro-inflammatory cytokines have been observed in NP, and might be related to the pathogenesis of this syndrome. The present study was designed to investigate IL-6 and IL-4 concentrations in nasal and oral exhaled breath condensate of patients with early and advanced NP, and following polypectomy. METHODS: Ten individuals with polyposis in early status, twenty-three patients affected by advanced status of NP and ten healthy controls were enrolled into the study. Exhaled breath condensate was collected by all individuals, according to a previous standardised method. An immunoassay kit was used to measure IL-6 and IL-4 levels. RESULTS: Concentrations of oral and nasal exhaled IL-6 and IL-4 were significantly higher in patients with early nasal polyposis and advanced nasal polyposis, compared to healthy controls. A statistically significant decrease of nasally but not of orally exhaled IL-6 (p < 0.001) and IL-4 (p < 0.05) was observed after polypectomy. CONCLUSIONS: We consider oral and nasal exhaled condensate of IL-6 and IL-4 as valid inflammatory and oxidative stress marker in patients with nasal polyposis

An electronic nose distinguishes exhaled breath of patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma from controls

BACKGROUND: Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is a tumour of the surface cells of the pleura that is highly aggressive and mainly caused by asbestos exposure. Electronic noses capture the spectrum of exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) providing a composite biomarker profile (breathprint). OBJECTIVE: We tested the hypothesis that an electronic nose can discriminate exhaled air of patients with MPM from subjects with a similar long-term professional exposure to asbestos without MPM and from healthy controls. METHODS: 13 patients with a histology confirmed diagnosis of MPM (age 60.9\ub112.2 year), 13 subjects with certified, long-term professional asbestos exposure (age 67.2\ub19.8), and 13 healthy subjects without asbestos exposure (age 52.2\ub116.2) participated in a cross-sectional study. Exhaled breath was collected by a previously described method and sampled by an electronic nose (Cyranose 320). Breathprints were analyzed by canonical discriminant analysis on principal component reduction. Cross-validated accuracy (CVA) was calculated. RESULTS: Breathprints from patients with MPM were separated from subjects with asbestos exposure (CVA: 80.8%, sensitivity 92.3%, specificity 85.7%). MPM was also distinguished from healthy controls (CVA: 84.6%). Repeated measurements confirmed these results. CONCLUSIONS: Molecular pattern recognition of exhaled breath can correctly distinguish patients with MPM from subjects with similar occupational asbestos exposure without MPM and from healthy controls. This suggests that breathprints obtained by electronic nose have diagnostic potential for MPM