VOC Biomarkers

The measurement of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by the body’s metabolic activity is a powerful approach for health monitoring and disease detection

A Whole-body Metabolic Snapshot Origins of VOCs Metabolomics vs Genomics Further Reading
A WHOLE-BODY METABOLIC SNAPSHOT

A Whole-body Metabolic Snapshot in Real-time

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are gaseous molecules that can be sampled quickly and non-invasively from breath with Breath Biopsy®. They can originate either from within the body (endogenous VOCs) or from external sources such as diet, prescription drugs and environmental exposure (exogenous VOCs).

Studies have identified over 1,000 VOCs that can be found on breath, alongside respiratory droplets they provide a rich source of information regarding overall health and have great potential as indicators of disease onset and progression.

Exogenous volatile organic compounds have a broader range of origins and have largely been overlooked as environmental contaminants in biological samples. More recently however, exogenous VOCs have become of increasing interest as many of them interact with biological systems and can also provide valuable information relevant to health and disease. For example, exogenous VOCs produced from the gut microbiome can be key health indicators.

ORIGINS OF VOCS

Origins of VOCs

Endogenous volatile organic compounds are produced throughout the body and are picked up and distributed in the bloodstream. From the blood they exchange into air in the lungs and are then exhaled along with respiratory droplets and atmospheric gases. Exhaled VOCs contribute to biomarker discovery by providing a source of useful biomarkers with clear associations to the body’s metabolism.

Breath Biopsy enables non-invasive collection and analysis of VOC biomarkers from breath. It takes roughly 1 minute for blood to flow around the entire circulatory system. By sampling breath for a minute or longer, even very low levels of VOC biomarkers from all parts of the body can be pre-concentrated, detected and identified. It’s easy to increase sensitivity to aid in detecting subtle changes during the very early stages of disease simply by extending sample collection time.

Exogenous volatile organic compounds have a broader range of origins and have largely been overlooked as environmental contaminants in biological samples. More recently however, exogenous VOCs have become of increasing interest as many of them interact with biological systems and can also provide valuable information relevant to health and disease. For example, exogenous VOCs produced from the gut microbiome can be key health indicators.

ADVANTAGES OF BREATH SAMPLING
  • Your lungs are very effective at exchanging chemicals with your blood, including volatile metabolites and biomarkers that are generated even in the earliest stages of disease.
  • It takes ~1 minute for your blood volume to circle around your body once.
  • By continuosuly preconcentrating exhaled chemicals we can sample and analyze the entire circulating blood volume.
  • This is completely non-invasive and pain free.

Exogenous volatile organic compounds have a broader range of origins and have largely been overlooked as environmental contaminants in biological samples. More recently however, exogenous VOCs have become of increasing interest as many of them interact with biological systems and can also provide valuable information relevant to health and disease. For example, exogenous VOCs produced from the gut microbiome can be key health indicators.

Targeted VOC probes

We have further harnessed the power of exogenous VOCs as EVOC Probes. Many exogenous VOCs are processed within the body by core metabolic pathways, which are also often involved in drug metabolism. By administering EVOC Probes, we can assess the activity of these pathways, which may be relevant in treatment selection and precision medicine.

EVOC PROBES
METABOLOMICS VS GENOMICS

Metabolomics vs Genomics

The genome is a powerful tool for understanding human biology, but it doesn’t contain the information needed for effective early disease detection and precision medicine. Metabolomics, the quantitative study of all the small molecules involved in metabolic pathways in the body, provides a much more complete picture.

Genes serve as the blueprint for an organism’s biological functions, but many diseases do not alter genetics and even in those that do genes rarely tell the whole story. In most circumstances, a disease is the result of multiple genetic attributes interacting with environmental factors, diet and lifestyle choices, microbiome differences and metabolic responses.

Genomics can be used to predict your personal risk of developing an illness at some point in your life, while metabolomics can tell you if you have that disease now and how advanced it is. What’s more, detecting changes in the metabolome can be used to predict exacerbations, monitor response to treatment and detect adverse reactions or toxicities.

Breath Biopsy provides the means to non-invasively sample VOCs produced by the metabolome with relevance to a wide range of diseases, including respiratory diseases, liver diseases and cancers. The applications of Breath Biopsy span early detection, precision medicine and environmental research with specific utility in treatment monitoring and adverse reaction prediction during drug development.

Applications of Breath Biopsy
FURTHER READING

Recommended Further Reading

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