Article
Physiol. Meas. 33, 413-428 (2012).
[DOI: 10.1088/0967-3334/33/3/413]
Measurement of endogenous acetone and isoprene in exhaled breath during sleep
Julian King, Alexander Kupferthaler, Birgit Frauscher, Heinz Hackner, Karl Unterkofler, Gerald Teschl, Hartmann Hinterhuber, Anton Amann and Birgit Högl
This explorative study aims at characterizing the breath behavior of two prototypic volatile organic compounds, acetone and isoprene,
during normal human sleep and to possibly relate changes in the respective concentration time courses to the underlying sleep
architecture. For this purpose, six normal healthy volunteers (two females, four males, age 20-29 years) were monitored over
two consecutive nights (the first one being an adaption night) by combining real-time proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry
measurements from end-tidal exhalation segments with laboratory-based polysomnographic data. Breath acetone concentrations
increased overnight in all measurements, with an average relative change by a factor of up to 4 (median 2.5).
Nighttime concentration maxima were usually recorded 2-3 h before lights on. For breath isoprene, a nocturnal increase
in baseline concentrations of about 74% was observed, with individual changes ranging from 36-110%.
Isoprene profiles exhibited pronounced concentration peaks, which were highly specific for leg movements as scored
by tibial electromyography. Furthermore, relative to a inear trend, baseline isoprene concentrations decreased during
the transition from the NREM to the REM phase of a complete sleep cycle.
Keywords: exhaled breath analysis, volatile organic compounds, normal human sleep, acetone, isoprene
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