Breath analysis by two-dimensional gas chromatography with dual flame ionisation and mass spectrometric detection - Method optimisation and integration within a large-scale clinical study.
Wilde MJ., Cordell RL., Salman D., Zhao B., Ibrahim W., Bryant L., Ruszkiewicz D., Singapuri A., Free RC., Gaillard EA., Beardsmore C., Thomas CLP., Brightling CE., Siddiqui S., Monks PS.
Precision medicine has spurred new innovations in molecular pathology leading to recent advances in the analysis of exhaled breath as a non-invasive diagnostic tool. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detected in exhaled breath have the potential to reveal a wealth of chemical and metabolomic information. This study describes the development of a method for the analysis of breath, based on automated thermal desorption (TD) combined with flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) with dual flame ionisation and quadrupole mass spectrometric detection (FID and qMS). The constrained optimisation and analytical protocol was designed to meet the practical demands of a large-scale multi-site clinical study, while maintaining analytical rigour to produce high fidelity data. The results demonstrate a comprehensive method optimisation for the collection and analysis of breath VOCs by GC×GC, integral to the standardisation and integration of breath analysis within large clinical studies.