Breath analysis isoprene

Mendis, S., P. A. Sobotka, and D. E. Euler, Pentane and Isoprene in Expired Air from Humans Gas-Chromatographic Analysis of Single Breath, Clin. Chem., 40, 1485-1488 (1994). 

Breath diagnostics involve the analysis of a human breath sample to monitor, diagnose, and detect diseases and conditions. Exhaled breath contains a complex mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, and trace amounts of various volatile organic compounds hke NO, acetone, isoprene, and ammonia. Many of these species are formed as the by-products of metabohc processes and can be used as biomarkers for various diseases. Examples of such biomarkers are acetone for diabetes mellitus (type I), ammonia for renal disease, NO for asthma, etc. 

Various methods have been used to investigate oral malodors including direct oral sampling for volatile sulfur materials and dynamic headspace analysis of incubated saliva. These approaches have been used in clinical evaluation of materials to ameliorate oral malodors as well as identifying all materials that contribute to the malodor or are indicators of oral disease (23-27). SPME analysis has been used to sample human breath (28). In this study, systemic air from diabetics was analyzed for ethanol, acetone, and isoprene. 

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