Inhalation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced acute lung inflammation in mice which exhibited increased levels of Muc1 CT fragment in lung and only Muc1 EC fragment increase in BAL fluid.
We hypothesized that exhaled breath condensate fluid (EBCF) in hygroscopic condenser humidifier/heat and moisture exchanger (HCH/HME) filters would contain bacterial DNA that qualitatively and quantitatively correlate with pathogens isolated from quantitative BAL samples obtained for clinical suspicion of pneumonia.
Here, we applied UMERS to 24 diagnostic respiratory specimens (bronchoalveolar lavage [BAL] fluid, sputum samples, and a swab) from patients with seasonal influenza infection and 5 BAL fluid samples from patients with pneumonia that tested negative for influenza to validate RNA sequencing as an unbiased diagnostic tool in comparison to conventional diagnostic methods.