Investigation and identification of breath acetone as a potential biomarker for type 2 diabetes diagnosis

Acetone is regarded as a promising biomarker for the noninvasive diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes. We collected breath acetone from 25 type 2 diabetics (T2D) and 44 healthy subjects using aluminum foil bags (3 L), and the samples were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. T2D patients had significantly higher acetone levels (mean = 2.167 ppmv (1 ppmv = 1 μL/L), standard error (SE) = 0.231) than healthy volunteers (mean = 0.488 ppmv, SE = 0.025; P 0.05). Thus, the increased acetone concentrations in T2D patients are affected strongly by physiological factors related to the disease, rather than the ambient air and diet.