S. Palmisano, A. R. Anderson, Z. J. Sasiene, E. Schaller, R. M. Taylor, R. Chitale, P. T. McMahon, P. M. Mach, T. G. Glaros, J. Baca and E. M. McBride
Abstract
Linking breath and blood metabolomics: advancing noninvasive biomarker discovery
Breath analysis offers a promising noninvasive alternative to blood-based diagnostics, but the relationship between breath and plasma metabolites remains poorly understood. This study integrates real-time SESI-MS breath analysis with LC-MS plasma profiling to systematically compare volatile and semi-volatile compounds across both matrices. By optimizing sample preparation and data processing workflows, including methanol-based extraction and the BreathXplorer pipeline, the study enhances feature detection and overlap between breath and plasma. The identification of shared metabolic signatures highlights the potential of breath analysis as a surrogate for systemic metabolomics, paving the way for more reliable, noninvasive diagnostic strategies.