Comparative Metabolomic Sampling of Upper and Lower Airways by Four Different Methods to Identify Biochemicals That May Support Bacterial Growth

Bacteria need nutrients from the host environment to survive, yet we know little about which biochemicals are present in the airways (the metabolome), which of these biochemicals are essential for bacterial growth and how they change with airway disease. The aims of this pilot study were to develop and compare methodologies for sampling the upper and lower airway metabolomes and to identify biochemicals present in the airways that could potentially support bacterial growth. Eight healthy human volunteers were sampled by four methods: two standard approaches - nasal lavage and induced sputum, and two using a novel platform, synthetic adsorptive matrix (SAM) strips—nasosorption and bronchosorption. Collected samples were analyzed by Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectroscopy (UPLC-MS/MS). Five hundred and eighty-one biochemicals were recovered from the airways belonging to a range of metabolomic super-pathways. We observed significant differences between the sampling approaches. Significantly more biochemicals were recovered when SAM strips were used, compared to standard sampling techniques. A range of biochemicals that could support bacterial growth were detected in the different samples. This work demonstrates for the first time that SAM strips are a highly effective method for sampling the airway metabolome. This work will assist further studies to understand how changes in the airway metabolome affect bacterial infection in patients with underlying airway disease.