Breath Ammonia Analysis: Clinical Application and Measurement

Abstract

This review covers in detail the complexity of human breath, how the body metabolizes ammonia, clinical conditions which are directly related to the regulation of ammonia concentration, and analysis of current techniques that are capable of detecting breath ammonia. Focusing on these areas provides the information needed to develop a breath ammonia sensor for monitoring dysfunction of the human body. Human breath has been broken down into its key components which are necessary for proper understanding of what to look for when attempting to isolate volatile organic compounds. A pathway has been shown which explains the origin of ammonia in the body and how it is processed within a healthy system. Following this, the hazards of several dysfunctions related to the broken ammonia pathway have been discussed. It is essential that technicians have knowledge of these inner workings of the human body along with current technology. Thus, the advantages and disadvantages of techniques from chemical ionization, gas chromatography, laser spectroscopy, and chemical sensing have been discussed.

Keywords:

• breath ammonia analysis
• ammonia metabolism
• clinical applications
• analytical techniques

Acknowledgmnts

This work was supported by Enterprise Ireland under grant number TD/2008/0140.