%0 Journal Article
%T Detection ofClostridioides difficileinfection by assessment of exhaled breath volatile organic compounds.
%A John TM
%A Shrestha NK
%A Hasan L
%A Pappan K
%A Birch O
%A Grove D
%A Boyle B
%A Allsworth M
%A Shrestha P
%A Procop GW
%A Dweik RA
%J J Breath Res
%V 18
%N 2
%D 2024 03 28
%M 38502958
%F 4.538
%R 10.1088/1752-7163/ad3572
%X Clostridioides difficileinfection (CDI) is the leading cause of hospital-acquired infective diarrhea. Current methods for diagnosing CDI have limitations; enzyme immunoassays for toxin have low sensitivity andClostridioides difficilepolymerase chain reaction cannot differentiate infection from colonization. An ideal diagnostic test that incorporates microbial factors, host factors, and host-microbe interaction might characterize true infection. Assessing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath may be a useful test for identifying CDI. To identify a wide selection of VOCs in exhaled breath, we used thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to study breath samples from 17 patients with CDI. Age- and sex-matched patients with diarrhea and negativeC.difficiletesting (no CDI) were used as controls. Of the 65 VOCs tested, 9 were used to build a quadratic discriminant model that showed a final cross-validated accuracy of 74%, a sensitivity of 71%, a specificity of 76%, and a receiver operating characteristic area under the curve of 0.72. If these findings are proven by larger studies, breath VOC analysis may be a helpful adjunctive diagnostic test for CDI.