Breathomics of Healthy Female Aging: Physio-Metabolic Effects of Puberty, Teenage, Reproductive and Postmenopausal Life on Exhaled Biomarkers

Healthy aging driven physio-metabolic events in female hold keys to complex in vivo mechanistic links and systemic cross-talks. Effects from basic changes at genome, proteome, metabolome and lipidome levels are often reflected at the up-stream phenome (e.g. breath volatome) cascades. Here, we have analyzed exhaled volatile metabolites (measured via real-time mass-spectrometry based breathomics) data from 204 healthy females, aged between 07 – 80 years. Age related substance-specific differences were observed in breath biomarkers. Exhalation of blood-borne endogenous organosulfur, short-chain fatty acids, alcohols, aldehydes, alkene, ketones and exogenous nitriles, terpenes and aromatics have denominated interplay between endocrine differences, energy homeostasis, systemic microbial diversity, oxidative stress and lifestyle. Overall marker expressions were suppressed under daily oral contraception. Young homosexual/lesbian adults turned out as breathomics outliers. Previously proposed disease-specific breath biomarkers should be re-evaluated upon aging effects. Breathomics offers a non-invasive window towards system-wide understanding and personalized monitoring of aging i.e. translatable to gerontology.