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Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Their Meaning in Human Health
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Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Their Meaning in Human Health

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Flavours and Fragrances".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2021) | Viewed by 21613

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Luigi Perbellini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Diagnostics and Public Health – Occupational Medicine Unit, University of Verona, Policlinico Borgo Roma, Piazzale LA Scuro 10, 37134 Verona, Italy (retired)
Interests: industrial toxicology; volatile compounds in alveolar air; metabolism of organic solvents; biological kinetics of industrial compounds
Dr. Lorenzo Monasta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health Research Unit, Institute for Maternal and Child Health – IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, IT-34137 Trieste, Italy
Interests: epidemiology and biostatistics; maternal and child health; global health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

More than 3000 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) together with some volatile inorganic compounds such as ammonia, nitrous acid, and others have been measured in different biological media (alveolar air, exhaled air, milk, sweet, feces). The meaning of some of them has been understood: some VOCs are related to the physiopathological metabolism of human cells, some come from environmental pollution, others depend on the gut microbiota, but most VOCs have no clear meaning for human health or pathological conditions. So far, no specific VOCs have been identified in the breath of patients with different kinds of pathologies with respect to healthy controls. During some physiological conditions (for example during physical effort) or in patients with different pathologies, the VOCs profile in the breath changes in the sense that some volatile compounds are increased while others are reduced, which would allow the identification of several physio-pathological conditions. Some researchers suggest using the VOCs in the breath to identify different kinds of cancers, infectious diseases, and chronic diseases.

This Special Issue aims to study in depth the meaning of volatile compounds in biological media and identify those that could better help diagnose specific physio-pathological conditions.

Prof. Dr. Luigi Perbellini
Dr. Lorenzo Monasta
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
  • Volatile compounds
  • Physio-pathological conditions
  • Cancer
  • Immunological or flogistic diseases

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 2187 KiB  
Article
Discriminant Profiles of Volatile Compounds in the Alveolar Air of Patients with Squamous Cell Lung Cancer, Lung Adenocarcinoma or Colon Cancer
by Leonardo Politi, Lorenzo Monasta, Maria Novella Rigressi, Andrea Princivalle, Alessandro Gonfiotti, Gianna Camiciottoli and Luigi Perbellini
Molecules 2021, 26(3), 550; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26030550 - 21 Jan 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3040
Abstract
The objective of the present work was to analyze volatile compounds in alveolar air in patients with squamous cell lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma or colon cancer, to prepare algorithms able to discriminate such specific pathological conditions. The concentration of 95 volatile compounds was [...] Read more.
The objective of the present work was to analyze volatile compounds in alveolar air in patients with squamous cell lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma or colon cancer, to prepare algorithms able to discriminate such specific pathological conditions. The concentration of 95 volatile compounds was measured in the alveolar air of 45 control subjects, 36 patients with lung adenocarcinoma, 25 patients with squamous cell lung cancer and 52 patients with colon cancer. Volatile compounds were measured with ion molecule reaction mass spectrometry (IMR-MS). An iterated least absolute shrinkage and selection operator multivariate logistic regression model was used to generate specific algorithms and discriminate control subjects from patients with different kinds of cancer. The final predictive models reached the following performance: by using 11 compounds, patients with lung adenocarcinoma were identified with a sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 84%; nine compounds allowed us to identify patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma with a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 84%; patients with colon adenocarcinoma could be identified with a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 73% using a model comprising 13 volatile compounds. The different alveolar profiles of volatile compounds, obtained from patients with three different kinds of cancer, suggest dissimilar biological–biochemistry conditions; each kind of cancer has probably got a specific alveolar profile. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Their Meaning in Human Health)
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12 pages, 3077 KiB  
Article
Tin, Titanium, Tantalum, Vanadium and Niobium Oxide Based Sensors to Detect Colorectal Cancer Exhalations in Blood Samples
by Michele Astolfi, Giorgio Rispoli, Gabriele Anania, Elena Artioli, Veronica Nevoso, Giulia Zonta and Cesare Malagù
Molecules 2021, 26(2), 466; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26020466 - 17 Jan 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3154
Abstract
User-friendly, low-cost equipment for preventive screening of severe or deadly pathologies are one of the most sought devices by the National Health Services, as they allow early disease detection and treatment, often avoiding its degeneration. In recent years more and more research groups [...] Read more.
User-friendly, low-cost equipment for preventive screening of severe or deadly pathologies are one of the most sought devices by the National Health Services, as they allow early disease detection and treatment, often avoiding its degeneration. In recent years more and more research groups are developing devices aimed at these goals employing gas sensors. Here, nanostructured chemoresistive metal oxide (MOX) sensors were employed in a patented prototype aimed to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs), exhaled by blood samples collected from patients affected by colorectal cancer and from healthy subjects as a control. Four sensors, carefully selected after many years of laboratory tests on biological samples (cultured cells, human stools, human biopsies, etc.), were based here on various percentages of tin, tungsten, titanium, niobium, tantalum and vanadium oxides. Sensor voltage responses were statistically analyzed also with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, that allowed the identification of the cut-off discriminating between healthy and tumor affected subjects for each sensor, leading to an estimate of sensitivity and specificity parameters. ROC analysis demonstrated that sensors employing tin and titanium oxides decorated with gold nanoparticles gave sensitivities up to 80% yet with a specificity of 70%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Their Meaning in Human Health)
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9 pages, 755 KiB  
Article
Exhaled Breath and Oxygenator Sweep Gas Propionaldehyde in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
by Agnes S. Meidert, Alexander Choukèr, Siegfried Praun, Gustav Schelling and Michael E. Dolch
Molecules 2021, 26(1), 145; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26010145 - 31 Dec 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2138
Abstract
Background: Oxidative stress-induced lipid peroxidation (LPO) due to neutrophil-derived reactive oxygen species plays a key role in the early stage of the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Monitoring of oxidative stress in this patient population is of great interest, and, ideally, this can [...] Read more.
Background: Oxidative stress-induced lipid peroxidation (LPO) due to neutrophil-derived reactive oxygen species plays a key role in the early stage of the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Monitoring of oxidative stress in this patient population is of great interest, and, ideally, this can be done noninvasively. Recently, propionaldehyde, a volatile chemical compound (VOC) released during LPO, was identified in the breath of lung transplant recipients as a marker of oxidative stress. The aim of the present study was to identify if markers of oxidative stress appear in the oxygenator outflow gas of patients with severe ARDS treated with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Methods: The present study included patients with severe ARDS treated with veno-venous ECMO. Concentrations of acetone, isoprene, and propionaldehyde were measured in inspiratory air, exhaled breath, and oxygenator inflow and outflow gas at corresponding time points. Ion-molecule reaction mass spectrometry was used to measure VOCs in a sequential order within the first 24 h and on day three after ECMO initiation. Results: Nine patients (5 female, 4 male; age = 42.1 ± 12.2 year) with ARDS and already established ECMO therapy (pre-ECMO PaO2/FiO2 = 44.0 ± 11.5 mmHg) were included into analysis. VOCs appeared in comparable amounts in breath and oxygenator outflow gas (acetone: 838 (422–7632) vs. 1114 (501–4916) ppbv; isoprene: 53.7 (19.5–244) vs. 48.7 (37.9–108) ppbv; propionaldehyde: 53.7 (32.1–82.2) vs. 42.9 (24.8–122) ppbv). Concentrations of acetone, isoprene, and propionaldehyde in breath and oxygenator outflow gas showed a parallel course with time. Conclusions: Acetone, isoprene, and propionaldehyde appear in breath and oxygenator outflow gas in comparable amounts. This allows for the measurement of these VOCs in a critically ill patient population via the ECMO oxygenator outflow gas without the need of ventilator circuit manipulation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Their Meaning in Human Health)
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20 pages, 2095 KiB  
Article
Breath Analysis: Comparison among Methodological Approaches for Breath Sampling
by Alessia Di Gilio, Jolanda Palmisani, Gianrocco Ventrella, Laura Facchini, Annamaria Catino, Niccolò Varesano, Pamela Pizzutilo, Domenico Galetta, Massimo Borelli, Pierluigi Barbieri, Sabina Licen and Gianluigi de Gennaro
Molecules 2020, 25(24), 5823; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25245823 - 10 Dec 2020
Cited by 56 | Viewed by 5776
Abstract
Despite promising results obtained in the early diagnosis of several pathologies, breath analysis still remains an unused technique in clinical practice due to the lack of breath sampling standardized procedures able to guarantee a good repeatability and comparability of results. The most diffuse [...] Read more.
Despite promising results obtained in the early diagnosis of several pathologies, breath analysis still remains an unused technique in clinical practice due to the lack of breath sampling standardized procedures able to guarantee a good repeatability and comparability of results. The most diffuse on an international scale breath sampling method uses polymeric bags, but, recently, devices named Mistral and ReCIVA, able to directly concentrate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) onto sorbent tubes, have been developed and launched on the market. In order to explore performances of these new automatic devices with respect to sampling in the polymeric bag and to study the differences in VOCs profile when whole or alveolar breath is collected and when pulmonary wash out with clean air is done, a tailored experimental design was developed. Three different breath sampling approaches were compared: (a) whole breath sampling by means of Tedlar bags, (b) the end-tidal breath collection using the Mistral sampler, and (c) the simultaneous collection of the whole and alveolar breath by using the ReCIVA. The obtained results showed that alveolar fraction of breath was relatively less affected by ambient air (AA) contaminants (p-values equal to 0.04 for Mistral and 0.002 for ReCIVA Low) with respect to whole breath (p-values equal to 0.97 for ReCIVA Whole). Compared to Tedlar bags, coherent results were obtained by using Mistral while lower VOCs levels were detected for samples (both breath and AA) collected by ReCIVA, likely due to uncorrected and fluctuating flow rates applied by this device. Finally, the analysis of all data also including data obtained by explorative analysis of the unique lung cancer (LC) breath sample showed that a clean air supply might determine a further confounding factor in breath analysis considering that lung wash-out is species-dependent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Their Meaning in Human Health)
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Review

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22 pages, 1354 KiB  
Review
Unravelling the Potential of Salivary Volatile Metabolites in Oral Diseases. A Review
by Jorge A. M. Pereira, Priscilla Porto-Figueira, Ravindra Taware, Pritam Sukul, Srikanth Rapole and José S. Câmara
Molecules 2020, 25(13), 3098; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25133098 - 7 Jul 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6411
Abstract
Fostered by the advances in the instrumental and analytical fields, in recent years the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has emerged as a new frontier in medical diagnostics. VOCs analysis is a non-invasive, rapid and inexpensive strategy with promising potential in clinical [...] Read more.
Fostered by the advances in the instrumental and analytical fields, in recent years the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has emerged as a new frontier in medical diagnostics. VOCs analysis is a non-invasive, rapid and inexpensive strategy with promising potential in clinical diagnostic procedures. Since cellular metabolism is altered by diseases, the resulting metabolic effects on VOCs may serve as biomarkers for any given pathophysiologic condition. Human VOCs are released from biomatrices such as saliva, urine, skin emanations and exhaled breath and are derived from many metabolic pathways. In this review, the potential of VOCs present in saliva will be explored as a monitoring tool for several oral diseases, including gingivitis and periodontal disease, dental caries, and oral cancer. Moreover, the analytical state-of-the-art for salivary volatomics, e.g., the most common extraction techniques along with the current challenges and future perspectives will be addressed unequivocally. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Their Meaning in Human Health)
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