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Sampling Airway Surface Liquid: Non-Volatilesin the Exhaled Breath Condensate

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Abstract

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) samples contain molecules that have no appreciable vapor pressure; such molecules likely derive from droplets of airway fluid. We analyzed EBC gathered from a total of 62 healthy volunteers in order to quantify the volume of airway liquid that was the source of the non-volatiles; saliva was analyzed as a reference secretion. EBC urea averaged 0.52 ± 0.12 μmol/L (n = 18), an 8,600-fold dilution from predicted blood urea nitrogen levels. Protein averaged 2.3 ± 0.3 μg/ml (n = 31), three orders of magnitude less than in saliva (1.4 ± 0.1 mg/ml, n = 15). EBC ammonia was 6.6 ± 0.6 mmol/L (1/15 that of saliva) and EBC ammonium ion was 0.90 ± 0.19 μmol/L, concentrations that are incompatible with an 8,600-fold dilution from a biological source. Thus, urea-derived dilution factors may be used to interpret EBC non-volatile molecules, but not EBC volatiles.

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Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Vinh Ngo, Susan Bostic, Angela Orman and Tenee Brookins for technical assistance. I am also grateful to Drs. Rajesh Bhagat, G. Douglas Campbell, Richard Effros, Marcy Petrini, and Jonathan Widdicombe for many fruitful discussions and assistance with the manuscript. This study was supported by ACT (A Comprehensive Tobacco Treatment Program) and the Mississippi chapter of the American Lung Association

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  1. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS, 30216-4505, USA

    Terry M. Dwyer

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Correspondence to Terry M. Dwyer.

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Dwyer, T.M. Sampling Airway Surface Liquid: Non-Volatilesin the Exhaled Breath Condensate. Lung 182, 241–250 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-004-2506-3

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