Usefulness of exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for the monitoring and understanding of lung diseases
Symposium Chairs: A. Boots (Maastricht, Netherlands), P. J. Sterk (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Aims: The aims of this symposium are to present:
- The current state-of-the-art regarding the various mass spectrometry-based techniques and sampling methods that are available;
- The most important developments in the field of metabolomics with metabolic profiling of the exhaled air being employed as example;
- The usefulness of VOC profiling for monitoring various lung diseases and thus for serving as an early and noninvasive biomarker;
- How volatile biomarkers can be identified by using in vitro models and experimental animal models; assessing their origin thereafter may help to determine how they can be modified for potential therapeutics; and,
- How volatiles excreted by lung bacterial pathogens can be detected in the breath and how this can be used for early screening and determining response to antibiotic therapy.