Inflammation and Infection Research Centre, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.
J Breath Res. 2010 Sep;4(3):034001. doi: 10.1088/1752-7155/4/3/034001. Epub 2010 Aug 27.
Asbestos usage was very common worldwide in the last century and continues in several countries today. Several diseases occur due to asbestos exposure, including malignant tumours such as malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and lung cancer, which have a very poor prognosis. Asbestos inhalation may also result in more benign conditions such as asbestosis (or pulmonary fibrosis due to asbestos), pleural plaques and pleural thickening. It is predicted that asbestos-associated mortality and morbidity will continue to increase, but methods for diagnosing asbestos-related disease are currently invasive and unsuitable for an increasingly elderly population. New non-invasive methods such as analysis of exhaled breath biomarkers e.g. exhaled nitric oxide (F(E)NO), exhaled breath condensate or of exhaled volatile organic compounds could potentially be extremely useful in these conditions. This article reviews the current literature on this topic and suggests areas for their application in the future.
上个世纪，石棉在世界范围内的使用非常普遍，如今在一些国家仍在继续使用。由于接触石棉而导致的几种疾病，包括恶性间皮瘤和肺癌等恶性肿瘤，这些疾病的预后非常差。石棉吸入也可能导致更良性的疾病，如石棉肺（或石棉引起的肺纤维化）、胸膜斑和胸膜增厚。预计与石棉相关的死亡率和发病率将继续增加，但目前诊断与石棉相关疾病的方法具有侵入性，不适合日益老龄化的人群。新的非侵入性方法，如分析呼出气生物标志物（如呼出气一氧化氮（F（E）NO）、呼出气冷凝液或呼出气挥发性有机化合物），在这些情况下可能非常有用。本文综述了这一主题的现有文献，并提出了它们在未来的应用领域。
