Breath Tests in Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Since the time of Hippocrates, physicians have known that the odour of human breath can provide clues to diagnosis. In the past, hydrogen peroxide which is a marker of inflammatory diseases and oxidative stress was the most studied substance in the exhaled breath which was detectable in the liquid that obtained by condensing or cooling. The advantages of breath analysis are that it is convenient, non-invasive, and could be performed with children as well as mechanically ventilated patients. Today, exhaled nitric oxide has been studied extensively, especially in relation to asthma. More than a thousand different volatile organic compounds have been observed in low concentrations in normal human breath. Alkanes and methylalkanes have been increasingly used by physicians as a novel method to diagnose many diseases without discomforts of invasive procedures. Although the limitations of measurement of exhaled nitric oxide in direct diagnosis of infectious pulmonary TB, it may have potential development as a cost-effective replacement of chest radiological examination in screening algorithms. None of the individual exhaled volatile organic compound alone is specific for disease. Exhaled breath analysis techniques may be available to diagnose and monitor the diseases in home setting when their sensitivity and specificity are expected to improve in the future. Here, we also discussed some patents related to the topic. Keywords: Breath tests, mycobacteria, nitric oxide, pulmonary, tuberculosis, volatile organic compounds.