BACKGROUND The B/B Checker®, a new portable device for detecting odorous compounds in oral, exhaled, and nasal air, is now available. As a single unit, this device is capable of detecting several kinds of gases mixed with volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) in addition to other odorous gasses. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the B/B Checker® for detecting the m...

Viral infection may induce the expression of heme oxygenase, resulting in increased carbon monoxide (CO) formation. CO may be produced by various cells of the upper and lower respiratory tract and may be detected in the exhaled air. Therefore, exhaled CO concentrations were measured on a CO monitor by vital capacity maneuver in subjects with upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and in non...

Much interest is now being focused on measurements of nitric oxide (NO) in exhaled air. In healthy subjects exhaled NO seems to originate mainly in the nasal airways, whereas the contribution from the lower respiratory tract is low. In certain inflammatory airway disorders, the excretion of NO into the airways is altered resulting in changes in the levels of NO in exhaled air. New techniques ha...

Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), in which airway inflammation has been reported to be a key factor, is an important component of asthma. However the precise role of inflammation in AHR is still unclear. In this report, airway inflammatory changes were assessed using hypertonic saline-induced sputum examination and exhaled nitric oxide analysis, and the relation between AHR to methacholine, air...

Consumers who use personal care products (PCPs) are internally exposed to some of the organic components present of which some may be detected in exhaled air when eliminated. The aim of this study was the quantitative determination of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) in end-exhaled air to study dermal absorption of substances in PCPs. We exposed the forear...

Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and decamethylpentasiloxane (D5) are used as ingredients for personal care products (PCPs). Because of the use of these PCPs, consumers are exposed daily to D4 and D5. A sensitive analytical method was developed for analysis of D4 and D5 in end-exhaled air by thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS), to determine the internal dose for ...

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gas molecule produced endogenously in the lungs. It can be detected in the exhaled air of animals and humans. Nitric oxide can be generated in the air passages by a synthase which is induced in several cell types by exposure to proinflammatory cytokines. Its induction is blocked by glucocorticoids. An increased concentration of nitric oxide can be found in the exhaled air...

We evaluated the effects of asthma and cystic fibrosis on nitric oxide (NO) concentrations in the respiratory tract. NO levels in orally exhaled air and nasal gas samples were studied in 90 asthmatic patients (4-14 yrs), 67 patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) (5-32 yrs), and 68 controls (4-34 yrs). NO concentrations measured by chemiluminescene were correlated with the patient's vital capacity, ...

We wanted to determine whether the production of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) is affected by cigarette smoking and various pathological conditions. Endogenously produced NO was measured by chemiluminescence in the exhaled air of 81 healthy volunteers (21 nonsmoking females (NSF), 12 smoking females (SF), 24 nonsmoking males (NSM) and 24 smoking males (SM)) and 38 patients (10 with hypertension,...

OBJECTIVE To utilize low-cost and simple methods to assess airway and lung inflammation biomarkers related to air pollution. METHODS A total of 87 male, non-smoking, healthy subjects working as street traffic-controllers or office-workers were examined to determine carbon monoxide in exhaled breath and to measure the pH in nasal lavage fluid and exhaled breath condensate. Air pollution exposu...