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Ambient temperature impacts on pH of exhaled breath condensate
Author(s) -
KOCZULLA Andreas R.,
NOESKE Sarah,
HERR Christian,
DETTE Frank,
PINKENBURG Olaf,
SCHMID Severin,
JÖRRES Rudolf A.,
VOGELMEIER Claus,
BALS Robert
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
respirology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1440-1843
pISSN - 1323-7799
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1843.2009.01664.x
Subject(s) - exhaled breath condensate , copd , medicine , asthma , gastroenterology , exhalation , breath gas analysis , airway , anesthesia , anatomy
Background and objective: Analysis of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) pH is a non‐invasive method to study airway inflammation. Low pH is correlated with inflammatory diseases like asthma and COPD. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of measurement temperature on pH values of EBC. Methods: EBC was collected using the RTube in 10 healthy non‐smoking controls, 10 smokers before and after cigarette smoking, 10 stable COPD patients and 10 patients with exacerbated COPD. pH was determined directly after degassing at temperatures of 23°C and 37°C. Results: When comparing all groups pH was significantly ( P = 0.0002) higher (mean ± SD 7.88 ± 0.92) at 37°C as compared with 23°C (7.44 ± 0.90). Specifically, at 23°C pH was significantly lower in the group of exacerbated COPD (6.78 ± 1.27) and healthy non‐smoking controls (8.04 ± 0.39). In contrast, subgroup analysis of values assessed at 37°C did not display significant differences. Conclusions: Our data indicate a considerable influence of temperature on pH values in EBC. Thus the temperature at which pH measurements in EBC studies are performed should be declared.