Breath test to monitor blood sugar level in diabetics

26 September, 2007

Breath analysis may serve as an effective, non-invasive method to monitor blood sugar levels in diabetics.

A new study, published in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Journal, used a chemical analysis technique developed for air-pollution testing.

Children with Type-1 diabetes were found to exhale significantly higher concentrations of methyl nitrates when they are hyperglycemic, or have too much glucose in their blood.

The study involved using breath-analysis testing on 10 children with Type-1 diabetes mellitus.

Researchers took air samples during a hyperglycemic state and progressively as they increased the children’s blood insulin levels.

The children’s breath samples were analyzed for more than 100 gasses at parts-per-trillion levels, and the results showed that concentrations of methyl nitrate exhaled had increased as much as 10 times more in diabetic children during hyperglycemia than when they had normal glucose levels.

According to the researchers, the methyl nitrate concentrations corresponded with the children’s glucose levels. The higher the glucose, the higher the exhaled methyl nitrates.

Researchers examined the exhaled breath samples in the laboratory, and measured the levels of trace gases in excess of the parts-per-billion range that contribute to local and regional air pollution.

During hyperglycemia, the Type-1 diabetics have more fatty acids in their blood that cause oxidative stress. Methyl nitrate is likely a by-product of this increased oxidative stress.

It is hoped that the discovery could precede the invention of a breath device that can warn diabetics of high blood sugar levels and the need for insulin.

Currently, diabetics monitor blood sugar levels using devices that break the skin to obtain a small blood sample. A breath test would be far more convenient.

Dr Pietro Galassetti, a diabetes researcher with the General Clinical Research Centre (GCRC) at the University of Irvine, in California, the United States, who worked on the project, said breath analysis has been showing promise as a diagnostic tool in a number of clinical areas, such as with ulcers and cystic fibrosis.

While no clinical breath test exists yet for diabetes, this study shows the possibility of non-invasive methods that can help the millions who have this chronic disease, Dr Galassetti added.