Metabolite Fusion between Breath and Blood Enables More In-Depth Understanding of the Endogenous Metabolome

Z. Tang, J. Yang, B. Su, X. Xu, X. Luo, H. Wang, K. Zhang, T. Huan, P. Sinues, M. Fang, X. Li

Breath Metabolomics Beyond Blood
This study demonstrates how exhaled breath can complement blood in metabolomics by retaining volatile compounds often lost in blood analysis. Researchers combined a controlled exercise protocol, a custom breath metabolomics database, and metabolite fusion across breath and blood to boost identification accuracy. High-resolution MS revealed 66 unique breath metabolites, 59 unique blood metabolites, and only 4 shared. Integrating both matrices expanded pathway coverage and highlighted breath-specific markers of exercise-induced changes, paving the way for novel biomarkers and future smart wearable applications.