Prototype Breath Test Flags Bacterial Infections in Mice Within Minutes

Overview

• In ACS Central Science, researchers report noninvasive detection across mouse models of pneumonia as well as bloodstream, muscle, and bone infections.
• The approach delivers sugars and sugar alcohols labeled with carbon‑13 that pathogenic bacteria metabolize into 13CO2, which is read by nondispersive infrared spectroscopy.
• Infected animals produced elevated labeled‑carbon signals about 10 minutes after tracer administration, whereas healthy controls showed little to none.
• In a mouse E. coli model, breath 13CO2 declined during antibiotic therapy, pointing to potential use for monitoring treatment response.
• The work remains preclinical with human validation pending, and the authors disclosed NIH and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation funding along with a related U.S. patent filing.