Exhaled breath marker in asthma patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Prevention of acid is important in gastroesophageal reflex disease (GERD)-related asthma therapy. Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) and H(2)-receptor blockers have been reported as useful therapies for improving asthma symptoms. GERD prevalence is high in asthma; however, methods for validating GERD existence based on questionnaire, endoscopic examination and 24h-pH monitoring do not directly determine GERD influence on the airway. Exhaled breath condensate analysis is a novel and non-invasive tool for assessing information directly from the airway. Breath collected by cooling can be applied to pH, 8-isoprostane and cytokine analysis in patients with GERD-related asthma, and the pH and 8-isoprostane levels have been shown to reflect the effects of PPI therapy in these patients. Although the analysis of cooled breath has not yet been established in a clinical setting, this method is expected to provide a novel tool for monitoring airway acidification associated with GERD.