Assessment of Immune and Proteomic Markers in Exhaled Breath Condensate: A Feasibility Study.
5 affiliations
- 1Department Public Health and Primary Care, Centre for Environment and Health, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
- 2Department of Public Health, Research Unit for Environment, Occupation and Health, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark.
- 3Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Utrecht 3584 CB, The Netherlands.
- 4Sybioma, Proteomics Core, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
- 5IDEWE, External Service for Prevention and Protection at Work, Heverlee 3001, Belgium.
Abstract
Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a promising matrix for biomarker characterization that reflects the condition of the respiratory system. We assessed the practical feasibility of marker characterization in EBC, including quantification, comparison with plasma and saliva levels, and repeated sampling after six months, focusing on immune markers and proteomics. We measured several immune markers twice, six months apart, in EBC, saliva, and plasma, including cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases, and untargeted proteomics in EBC. α-Amylase activity was almost 10,000-fold lower in EBC than in saliva, suggesting at most limited saliva contamination during EBC collection. Generally, chemokine and eicosanoid levels were lower and more often below the limit of quantification in EBC versus plasma and saliva. Participants were healthy; still, EBC markers could be quantified in ≥50% of samples, except interleukin 12p70 and thromboxane B₂. Correlations across matrices were often low, supporting EBC's matrix-specific properties. EBC proteomic analysis identified up to 209 proteins, several related to lung function. This study highlights EBC as a promising non-invasive method for respiratory biomarker discovery and demonstrates the practical feasibility of detecting immune and proteomic markers in EBC. Additionally, we showed that the EBC proteome can be generated on single EBC samples.
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BibTeX
@article{ryck2026assessment,
title = {{Assessment of Immune and Proteomic Markers in Exhaled Breath Condensate: A Feasibility Study.}},
author = {Evi De Ryck and Eline Verscheure and Vivi Schlünssen and Anne Mette Lund Würtz and Rob Stierum and Sebastien Carpentier and Steven Ronsmans and Anjoeka Pronk and Lode Godderis and Manosij Ghosh},
journal = {Environment \& health (Washington, D.C.)},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1021/envhealth.6c00175},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921518},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Assessment of Immune and Proteomic Markers in Exhaled Breath Condensate: A Feasibility Study.
AU - Evi De Ryck
AU - Eline Verscheure
AU - Vivi Schlünssen
AU - Anne Mette Lund Würtz
AU - Rob Stierum
AU - Sebastien Carpentier
AU - Steven Ronsmans
AU - Anjoeka Pronk
AU - Lode Godderis
AU - Manosij Ghosh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/07
JO - Environment & health (Washington, D.C.)
DO - 10.1021/envhealth.6c00175
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921518
AB - Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a promising matrix for biomarker characterization that reflects the condition of the respiratory system. We assessed the practical feasibility of marker characterization in EBC, including quantification, comparison with plasma and saliva levels, and repeated sampling after six months, focusing on immune markers and proteomics. We measured several immune markers twice, six months apart, in EBC, saliva, and plasma, including cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases, and untargeted proteomics in EBC. α-Amylase activity was almost 10,000-fold lower in EBC than in saliva, suggesting at most limited saliva contamination during EBC collection. Generally, chemokine and eicosanoid levels were lower and more often below the limit of quantification in EBC versus plasma and saliva. Participants were healthy; still, EBC markers could be quantified in ≥50% of samples, except interleukin 12p70 and thromboxane B₂. Correlations across matrices were often low, supporting EBC's matrix-specific properties. EBC proteomic analysis identified up to 209 proteins, several related to lung function. This study highlights EBC as a promising non-invasive method for respiratory biomarker discovery and demonstrates the practical feasibility of detecting immune and proteomic markers in EBC. Additionally, we showed that the EBC proteome can be generated on single EBC samples.
SN - 2833-8278
ER -