Metabolomics Study of Exhaled Breath Condensate in Childhood Asthma by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) was analyzed by gas chromatography. mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) in childhood asthma and healthy control, aiming to find the potential markers of EBC in children with asthma, and provide a scientific reference for its pathogenesis and early screening. EBC samples were collected from 21 asthmatic children (age (8.2 +/- 1.6) years) and 17 healthy children (age (8.1 +/- 1.3) years). GC-MS/MS was used to obtain the full scan data of chemical components. Cluster analysis was performed on the two groups of metabolites by principal component analysis (PCA), and potential biomarkers were found using Metaboanalyst 3.0 attributable metabolic pathways. The results showed that the EBC metabolic maps of asthmatic group and normal group were very different, and eight endogenous potential biomarkers were identified, suggesting that starch and sucrose metabolism, lysine degradation, aminoglycan nucleoside metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism may play important roles in the development of asthma in children.