Non-invasive lung disease diagnostics from exhaled microdroplets of lung fluid: perspectives and technical challenges

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Abstract

The combination of ultra-sensitive assay techniques and recent improvements in the instrumentation used to collect microdroplets of lung fluid (MLF) from exhaled breath has enabled the development of non-invasive lung disease diagnostics that are based on MLF analysis. In one example of this approach, electrospun nylon filters were used to collect MLFs from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The filters were washed to obtain liquid probes, which were then tested for human immunoglobulin A (h-IgA) and fractions of h-IgA specific to ESAT-6 and Psts-1, two antigens secreted by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Probes collected for 10 min contained 100–1500 fg of h-IgA and, in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, a portion of these h-IgA molecules showed specificity to the secreted antigens. Separate MLFs and their dry residues were successfully collected using an electrostatic collector and impactor developed especially for this purpose. Visualization of MLF dry residues by atomic force microscopy made it possible to estimate the lipid content in each MLF and revealed mucin molecules in some MLFs. This exciting new approach will likely make it possible to detect biomarkers in individual MLFs. MLFs emerging from an infection site (‘hot’ microdroplets) are expected to be enriched with infection biomarkers. This paper discusses possible experimental approaches to detecting biomarkers in single MLFs, as well as certain technological problems that need to be resolved in order to develop new non-invasive diagnostics based on analysing biomarkers in separate MLFs.

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Most cited references 43

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An ultrasensitive method for detecting protein analytes has been developed. The system relies on magnetic microparticle probes with antibodies that specifically bind a target of interest [prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in this case] and nanoparticle probes that are encoded with DNA that is unique to the protein target of interest and antibodies that can sandwich the target captured by the microparticle probes. Magnetic separation of the complexed probes and target followed by dehybridization of the oligonucleotides on the nanoparticle probe surface allows the determination of the presence of the target protein by identifying the oligonucleotide sequence released from the nanoparticle probe. Because the nanoparticle probe carries with it a large number of oligonucleotides per protein binding event, there is substantial amplification and PSA can be detected at 30 attomolar concentration. Alternatively, a polymerase chain reaction on the oligonucleotide bar codes can boost the sensitivity to 3 attomolar. Comparable clinically accepted conventional assays for detecting the same target have sensitivity limits of approximately 3 picomdar, six orders of magnitude less sensitive than what is observed with this method.

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Evidence on the impact of sustained exposure to air pollution on life expectancy from China's Huai River policy.

Yuyu Chen, Avraham Ebenstein, Michael Greenstone … (2013)

This paper's findings suggest that an arbitrary Chinese policy that greatly increases total suspended particulates (TSPs) air pollution is causing the 500 million residents of Northern China to lose more than 2.5 billion life years of life expectancy. The quasi-experimental empirical approach is based on China's Huai River policy, which provided free winter heating via the provision of coal for boilers in cities north of the Huai River but denied heat to the south. Using a regression discontinuity design based on distance from the Huai River, we find that ambient concentrations of TSPs are about 184 μg/m(3) [95% confidence interval (CI): 61, 307] or 55% higher in the north. Further, the results indicate that life expectancies are about 5.5 y (95% CI: 0.8, 10.2) lower in the north owing to an increased incidence of cardiorespiratory mortality. More generally, the analysis suggests that long-term exposure to an additional 100 μg/m(3) of TSPs is associated with a reduction in life expectancy at birth of about 3.0 y (95% CI: 0.4, 5.6).

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Diagnosis and Classification of 17 Diseases from 1404 Subjects via Pattern Analysis of Exhaled Molecules

Morad K Nakhleh, Haitham Amal, Raneen Jeries … (2016)

We report on an artificially intelligent nanoarray based on molecularly modified gold nanoparticles and a random network of single-walled carbon nanotubes for noninvasive diagnosis and classification of a number of diseases from exhaled breath. The performance of this artificially intelligent nanoarray was clinically assessed on breath samples collected from 1404 subjects having one of 17 different disease conditions included in the study or having no evidence of any disease (healthy controls). Blind experiments showed that 86% accuracy could be achieved with the artificially intelligent nanoarray, allowing both detection and discrimination between the different disease conditions examined. Analysis of the artificially intelligent nanoarray also showed that each disease has its own unique breathprint, and that the presence of one disease would not screen out others. Cluster analysis showed a reasonable classification power of diseases from the same categories. The effect of confounding clinical and environmental factors on the performance of the nanoarray did not significantly alter the obtained results. The diagnosis and classification power of the nanoarray was also validated by an independent analytical technique, i.e., gas chromatography linked with mass spectrometry. This analysis found that 13 exhaled chemical species, called volatile organic compounds, are associated with certain diseases, and the composition of this assembly of volatile organic compounds differs from one disease to another. Overall, these findings could contribute to one of the most important criteria for successful health intervention in the modern era, viz. easy-to-use, inexpensive (affordable), and miniaturized tools that could also be used for personalized screening, diagnosis, and follow-up of a number of diseases, which can clearly be extended by further development.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Breath Res

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J Breath Res

Journal ID (publisher-id): jbr

Journal ID (coden): JBROBW

Title: Journal of Breath Research

Publisher: IOP Publishing

ISSN (Print): 1752-7155

ISSN (Electronic): 1752-7163

Publication date (Print): 1 January 2018

Publication date (Electronic): 06 December 2017

Volume: 12

Issue: 1

Electronic Location Identifier: 017103

Affiliations

[1 ] Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences , Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia tammorozova@ 123456rambler.ru

[2 ]National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, George Mason University , VA, United States of America

[3 ]Department of Immunology, Central Tuberculosis Research Institute , Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Author notes

[4]

Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.

Author information

Victor N Morozov http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6533-4253

Article

Publisher ID: jbraa88e4 Publisher-manuscript ID: aa88e4 Other ID: JBR-100645.R1

DOI: 10.1088/1752-7163/aa88e4

PMC ID: 7099678

PubMed ID: 28850044

SO-VID: 8eaa502c-023e-45cf-94de-c891ca565e5e

License:

This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.