Exhaled breath volatile alterations in pregnancy assessed with electronic nose

Abstract

Context: Pregnancy-linked accelerated metabolism and oxidative stress may alter the exhaled volatile compound pattern (“breathprint”). Electronic noses can distinguish “breathprints” associated with different disorders.

Objective: This is the first study assessing alterations in “breathprint” during gestation.

Material and methods: 130 women participated in our study (78 pregnant vs. 52 non-pregnant). Breath samples were processed by an electronic nose and analyzed using principal component analysis.

Results: Significant differences were found in exhaled breath pattern between pregnant and non-pregnant women (p = 0.001).

Conclusion: Pregnancy-induced changes in exhaled gases need to be considered when pregnant women with respiratory disorders carry out breath tests.

Key words::

• Pregnancy
• breath test
• electronic nose

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Outpatient Clinic workers for recruiting pregnant subjects, as well as Melinda Bors and Klaudia Erdesz for English corrections.

Declaration of interest

The study was supported by Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA 68808, OTKA 68758) and Hungarian Respiratory Society Grant (to Andras Bikov). Andras Bikov is a member of Sanofi-Aventis Scholarship program.