Mazzatenta A, Pokorski M, Di Tano A, Cacchio M, Di Giulio C
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2016;884:75-9. doi: 10.1007/5584_2015_176.
The real-time exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been suggested as a new biomarker to detect and monitor physiological processes in the respiratory system. The VOCs profile in exhaled breath reflects the biochemical alterations related to metabolic changes, organ failure, and neuronal activity, which are, at least in part, transmitted via the lungs to the alveolar exhaled breath. Breath analysis has been applied to investigate cancer, lung failure, and neurodegenerative diseases. There are by far no studies on the real-time monitoring of VOCs in sensory stimulation in healthy subjects. Therefore, in this study we investigated the breath parameters and exhaled VOCs in humans during sensory stimulation: smell, hearing, sight, and touch. Responses sensory stimulations were recorded in 12 volunteers using an iAQ-2000 sensor. We found significant effects of sensory stimulation. In particular, olfactory stimulation was the most effective stimulus that elicited the greatest VOCs variations in the exhaled breath. Since the olfactory pathway is distinctly driven by the hypothalamic and limbic circuitry, while other senses project first to the thalamic area and then re-project to other brain areas, the findings suggest the importance of olfaction and chemoreception in the regulation lung gas exchange. VOCs variations during sensory activation may become putative indicators of neural activity.
实时呼出挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）已被提议作为一种新的生物标志物，用于检测和监测呼吸系统中的生理过程。呼出气中的VOCs谱反映了与代谢变化、器官衰竭和神经活动相关的生化改变，这些改变至少部分地通过肺部传递到肺泡呼出气中。呼气分析已被应用于研究癌症、肺衰竭和神经退行性疾病。到目前为止，尚未有关于健康受试者在感觉刺激过程中对VOCs进行实时监测的研究。因此，在本研究中，我们调查了人类在感觉刺激（嗅觉、听觉、视觉和触觉）过程中的呼吸参数和呼出的VOCs。使用iAQ-2000传感器记录了12名志愿者对感觉刺激的反应。我们发现感觉刺激有显著影响。特别是，嗅觉刺激是最有效的刺激，能引起呼出气中最大的VOCs变化。由于嗅觉通路明显由下丘脑和边缘系统回路驱动，而其他感觉首先投射到丘脑区域，然后再投射到其他脑区，这些发现表明嗅觉和化学感受在调节肺气体交换中的重要性。感觉激活期间的VOCs变化可能成为神经活动的推定指标。
