Correlation Between Breath Profiles Of Exhaled Volatile Organic Compounds (eVOCs) And Global Initiative For Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) COPD Stage

Pulmonary and systemic inflammation is central to pathophysiology of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), with oxidative stress initiating and driving inflammation. We have recently shown in an observational cohort study (ISRCTN82911859) that eVOCs are qualitatively and quantitatively different between COPD and healthy controls. As oxidation seems to be an important process in eVOCs generation, we could expect more eVOCs with increasing COPD severity. We aimed to test the null hypothesis that there is no difference in eVOCs profile between mild to moderate and severe COPD as assessed by GOLD stage.