Metabonomic Study On Exhaled Breath Condensate Of Asthma Of Excess And Deficiency Types

Objective:Bronchial asthma is one of the common and frequently occurring diseases in respiratory system. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the types of bronchial asthma are diagnosed via four examination techniques including inspection, auscultation-olfaction, inquiry, and palpation. The disadvantage is that the diagnosis lacks scientific evidences. The aim of the current research is to compare the differences between the asthmas of excess and deficiency types with GC-MS based metabonomic measure, find potential biomarkers to distinguish excess type asthma from deficiency one, and provide evidences for TCM the diagnosis of the syndromes.Methods:32 patients of excess type asthma,25 patients of deficiency type asthma, and 25 healthy volunteers are involved. About 0.7 ml of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) samples were collected and kept in the refrigerator at-20℃until analyses. The EBC samples were analyzed with GC/MS, and each pear was determined with the NIST database. The GC-MS data were analyzed using the area normalization method to discover the small molecules which could differentiate the healthy persons from asthma, and the excess type from the deficiency type one.Results:1. Nonanal and 2,4-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl) phenol showed significant difference in both groups of asthmas and the nomal people (p<0.01). Indole and Nonanoic acid,9-oxo-, methyl ester only showed differences between the deficiency type asthmas and the nomal ones (p<0.05).2. The content of Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester in excess type asthmas was lower than that in deficiency, type ones (p<0.05).3. The content of 5-Methyl-2-(1-methylethyl)-, (1.alpha.,2.beta.,5.alpha.)-(.+/-.) cyclohexanol was higher in glucocorticoid treatment group of the deficiency type asthmas than the other group (p<0.05).Conclusion:1. Metabonomic study on exhaled breath condensate (EBC) by GC-MS could differentiate the healthy people from the asthma patients.2. Metabonomic study on exhaled breath condensate (EBC) by GC-MS could differentiate the excess type asthmas from the deficiency type ones, and Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester may be the potential biomarker to differentiate the excess and deficiency type asthmas.3.The content of 5-Methyl-2-(1-methylethyl)-,(1.alpha.,2.beta.,5.alpha.)-(.+/-.) cyclohexanol is higher in glucocorticoid treatment group of the deficiency type asthmas than the other group, and this compound may becomes an evaluation index for glucocorticoid treatment effects of asthma.