Bous Michelle, Tutdibi Erol, Nourkami-Tutdibi Nasenien, Kaiser Elisabeth, Stutz Regine, Meyer Sascha, Baumbach Jörg Ingo, Zemlin Michael, Goedicke-Fritz Sybelle
Department of General Pediatrics and Neonatology, Saarland University Medical School, Homburg, Germany.
Department Bio- and Chemical Engineering, Technical University Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany.
Eur J Clin Invest. 2023 Jan;53(1):e13868. doi: 10.1111/eci.13868. Epub 2022 Sep 15.
As neonates are susceptible for many diseases, establishing noninvasive diagnostic methods is desirable. We hypothesized that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) could be successfully measured in diaper samples.
We performed a feasibility study to investigate whether ambient air-independent headspace measurements of the VOC profiles of diapers from premature infants can be conducted using ion mobility spectrometer coupled with multi-capillary columns (B & S Analytik GmbH).
We analysed 39 diapers filled with stool (n = 10) or urine (n = 20) respectively, using empty diapers as a control (n = 9). A total of 158 different VOCs were identified, and we classified the content of the diapers (urine or stool) according to their VOC profiles with a significance level of p < 0.05.
We have developed a novel method to study headspace VOC profiles of biosamples using ion mobility spectrometry coupled with multi-capillary columns. Using this method, we have characterized the VOC profiles of stool and urine of preterm neonates. Future studies are warranted to characterize specific VOC profiles in infections and other diseases of the preterm neonate, thus establishing quick and noninvasive diagnostics in the routine care of the highly vulnerable preterm and term neonates.
由于新生儿易患多种疾病，因此建立非侵入性诊断方法很有必要。我们推测挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）可在尿布样本中成功检测。
我们进行了一项可行性研究，以调查是否可以使用与多毛细管柱联用的离子迁移谱仪（B & S Analytik GmbH）对早产儿尿布的VOCs进行与环境空气无关的顶空测量。
我们分别分析了39片装满粪便（n = 10）或尿液（n = 20）的尿布，并将空尿布作为对照（n = 9）。共鉴定出158种不同的VOCs，我们根据尿布（尿液或粪便）的VOCs谱图对其内容物进行分类，显著性水平为p < 0.05。
我们开发了一种新方法，使用与多毛细管柱联用的离子迁移谱来研究生物样本的顶空VOCs谱图。利用该方法，我们已对早产儿粪便和尿液的VOCs谱图进行了表征。未来有必要开展研究，以表征早产儿感染及其他疾病中的特定VOCs谱图，从而在高度脆弱的早产儿和足月儿的常规护理中建立快速且非侵入性的诊断方法。
