Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry studies of volatile compounds emited by bacterial cultures

Abstract:
Breath analysis is a frontier field of science and its potential in clinical diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring is now becoming to be realized. Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT-MS, is an analytical technique for real time, on line analysis of the trace gases in ambient air and especially in exhaled breath. Using SIFT-MS instrument we have researched methods for accurate calculation of trace amounts of volatile compounds in humid air and carried out the first surveys in the Czech Republic of concentrations of common breath metabolites showing their ranges and distributions. A major advance was the first measurement of HCN in the breath of a group of volunteers. In order to progress towards the goal of clinical diagnostics it is now necessary to research volatile emmissions from bacterial cultures. Results will make it possible to identify biomarkers of infection present in breath of patients as volatile compounds. The main focus of the proposed research will be bacterial infections in patients with Cystic Fibrosis.