Skip to main content
. 2016 Nov 10;7(11):e201. doi: 10.1038/ctg.2016.57

Table 2. Breath VOCs in IBD: adjusted for age and gender.

Factor CD (N=24) UC (N=11) IPAA (N=30) OGD (N=6) HC (N=53) P value
2-Propanol 83.3 (61.0, 113.8)a,b 86.3 (54.3, 136.9)b 322.1 (243.7, 425.9)a,c,d,e 41.2 (21.6, 78.6)b 44.5 (35.8, 55.3)b,e <0.001
Acetaldehyde 38.8 (30.9, 48.6)b 40.8 (29.2, 57.0)b 170.7 (139.5, 208.9)a,c,d,e 35.4 (22.2, 56.5)b 26.8 (22.9, 31.4)b <0.001
Acetone 220.9 (156.6, 311.6)b 197.2 (118.4, 328.3)b 853.3 (627.1, 1161.0)a,c,d,e 247.6 (121.4, 504.6)b 157.0 (123.4, 199.6)b <0.001
Acetonitrilef 15.0 (11.8, 19.0) 12.4 (8.7, 17.6) 21.3 (17.3, 26.3) 14.5 (8.9, 23.7) 14.1 (10.7, 18.5) 0.038
Acrylonitrile 1.08 (0.91, 1.3)a 1.2 (0.89, 1.5)a 1.08 (0.92, 1.3)a 1.3 (0.89, 1.9) 0.76 (0.67, 0.86)b,d,e <0.001
Benzene 4.2 (3.1, 5.6)b 3.6 (2.3, 5.6)b 13.3 (10.3, 17.4)a,c,d,e 3.9 (2.1, 7.1)b 3.3 (2.7, 4.1)b <0.001
Carbon disulfide 4.3 (3.4, 5.4)a,b 4.3 (3.1, 5.9)a,b 11.6 (9.5, 14.2)a,c,d,e 4.2 (2.6, 6.6)b 2.4 (2.1, 2.8)b,d,e <0.001
Dimethyl sulfide 2.9 (2.2, 3.7)a,b 3.0 (2.1, 4.3)b 27.6 (22.1, 34.6)a,c,d,e 3.4 (2.0, 5.7)b 1.8 (1.5, 2.2)b,e <0.001
Ethanol 111.5 (83.0, 149.6)a,b 113.4 (73.3, 175.5)b 256.5 (197.1, 333.9)a,c,d,e 63.0 (34.2, 115.9)b 57.3 (46.6, 70.4)b,e <0.001
Isoprene 30.3 (23.3, 39.4)a,b 22.6 (15.3, 33.3)b 150.3 (118.8, 190.2)a,c,d,e 24.5 (14.2, 42.2)b 16.8 (14.0, 20.2)b,e <0.001
Pentane 20.2 (16.2, 25.0)b 18.5 (13.4, 25.5)b 87.0 (71.7, 105.6)a,c,d,e 18.9 (12.1, 29.6)b 14.1 (12.1, 16.4)b <0.001
1-Decene 5.4 (3.7, 7.8)b 5.3 (3.0, 9.1)b 0.86 (0.62, 1.2)a,c,d,e 9.8 (4.5, 21.1)b 6.7 (5.1, 8.6)b <0.001
1-Heptene 12.2 (7.9, 19.0)b 9.4 (4.9, 18.0)b 2.2 (1.5, 3.3)a,c,d,e 16.7 (6.7, 41.4)b 11.0 (8.1, 14.9)b <0.001
1-Nonene 4.3 (3.0, 6.0)b 4.2 (2.5, 7.0)b 0.97 (0.72, 1.3)a,c,d,e 11.4 (5.6, 23.1)b 4.9 (3.9, 6.2)b <0.001
1-Octene 20.5 (14.3, 29.3)b 20.8 (12.3, 35.3)b 3.1 (2.2, 4.2)a,c,d,e 21.9 (10.5, 45.8)b 19.3 (15.1, 24.8)b <0.001
3-Methylhexane 32.6 (26.0, 41.0)b 31.0 (22.1, 43.4)b 67.3 (55.0, 82.5)a,c,d,e 19.6 (12.3, 31.4)b 25.3 (21.6, 29.7)b <0.001
(E)-2-nonene 2.7 (1.9, 3.9)b 2.3 (1.3, 3.9)b 0.84 (0.61, 1.2)a,c,d,e 3.2 (1.5, 6.7)b 2.3 (1.8, 3.0)b <0.001
Ammonia 76.5 (60.0, 97.6)c 70.1 (48.9, 100.5) 60.2 (48.4, 74.8) 33.9 (20.5, 56.0)e 62.0 (52.3, 73.4) 0.065
Ethane 94.1 (82.3, 107.6)b 92.0 (75.4, 112.2)b 167.0 (148.1, 188.3)a,c,d,e 69.4 (52.5, 91.6)b 76.9 (70.0, 84.4)b <0.001
Hydrogen sulfide 0.46 (0.35, 0.60) 0.51 (0.34, 0.75) 0.32 (0.25, 0.40)c 1.01 (0.58, 1.8)a,b 0.41 (0.34, 0.50)c 0.003
Triethyl amine 1.3 (1.05, 1.6)a,b 1.2 (0.86, 1.6) 0.75 (0.62, 0.91)c,e 2.2 (1.4, 3.4)a,b 0.89 (0.77, 1.03)c,e <0.001
Trimethyl amine 11.0 (8.2, 14.7)b 8.8 (5.7, 13.5)b 25.4 (19.6, 32.9)a,c,d,e 9.8 (5.4, 17.7)b 7.5 (6.1, 9.2)b <0.001

Abbreviations: ANCOVA, analysis of covariance; CD, Crohn's disease; CI, confidence interval; HC, non-inflammatory controls; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; IC, inflammatory control; IPAA, ileal pouch anal anastomosis; OGD, inflammatory controls; UC, ulcerative colitis; VOC, volatile organic compound.

Values presented as mean (95% CI) and were obtained using ANCOVA analysis. The logarithm of each VOC was modeled as the outcome variable with group, age, and gender as the independent variables. VOC values are presented as parts per billion.

Bonferroni correction was used for all post hoc comparisons.

a

Significantly different from healthy controls.

b

Significantly different from pouch.

c

Significantly different from ICs.

d

Significantly different from UC.

e

Significantly different from CD.

f

Acetonitrile measured in only 19 healthy controls. Bold and italic values are significant.