Influence of condensing equipment and temperature on exhaled breath condensate pH, total protein and leukotriene concentrations

Czebe, Krisztina; Barta, Imre; Antus, Balázs; Valyon, Márta; Horváth, Ildikó; Kullmann, Tamás

doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2007.12.013

« Previous Next »Respiratory Medicine
Volume 102, Issue 5 , Pages 720-725, May 2008

Influence of condensing equipment and temperature on exhaled breath condensate pH, total protein and leukotriene concentrations

Krisztina Czebe
- Department of Pathophysiology, National Korányi Institute for TB and Pulmonology, 1529 Budapest Pihenö u. 1, Budapest, Hungary
Imre Barta
- Department of Pathophysiology, National Korányi Institute for TB and Pulmonology, 1529 Budapest Pihenö u. 1, Budapest, Hungary
Balázs Antus
- Department of Pathophysiology, National Korányi Institute for TB and Pulmonology, 1529 Budapest Pihenö u. 1, Budapest, Hungary
Márta Valyon
- Clinical Laboratory, National Korányi Institute for TB and Pulmonology, 1529 Budapest Pihenö u. 1, Budapest, Hungary
Ildikó Horváth
- Institute of Human Physiology and Clinical Experimental Research, Semmelweis University, Hungary
Tamás Kullmann
- Department of Pathophysiology, National Korányi Institute for TB and Pulmonology, 1529 Budapest Pihenö u. 1, Budapest, Hungary
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +3613913309; fax: +3612007060.

Received 18 September 2007; accepted 18 December 2007. published online 01 February 2008.

Summary

Background

Exhaled breath condensate analysis is an attractive but still not fully standardised method for investigating airway pathology. Adherence of biomarkers to various condensing surfaces and changes in condensing temperature has been considered to be responsible for the variability of the results. Our aims were to compare the efficacy of different types of condensers and to test the influence of condensing temperature on condensate composition.

Methods

Breath condensates from 12 healthy persons were collected in two settings: (1) by using three condensers of different type (EcoScreen, R-Tube, Anacon) and (2) by using R-Tube condenser either cooled to −20 or −70°C. Condensate pH at standardised CO₂ level was determined; protein content was measured by the Bradford method and leukotrienes by EIA.

Results

Breath condensates collected using EcoScreen were more alkaline (6.45±0.20 vs. 6.19±0.23, p<0.05 and 6.10±0.26, p<0.001) and contained more protein (3.89±2.03 vs. 2.65±1.98, n.s. and 1.88±1.99μg/ml, p<0.004) as compared to the other devices. Only parameters obtained with R-Tube and Anacon correlated. Condensing temperature affected condensate pH (5.99±0.20 at −20°C and 5.82±0.07 at −70°C, p<0.05) but not protein content. Leukotriene B₄ was not found in any sample and cysteinyl-leukotriene was not found in condensates collected with R-Tube or Anacon.

Conclusion

Condenser type influences sample pH, total protein content and cysteinyl-leukotriene concentration. Condensing temperature influences condensate pH but not total protein content. These results suggest that adherence of the biomarkers to condenser surface and condensing temperature may play a role but does not fully explain the variability of EBC biomarker levels.

Keywords: EBC, Exhaled breath condensate, Leukotriene, pH, Total protein