Abstract: Effect of hydrogen therapy on the proteomic profile of exhaled breath condensate after recovery from COVID-19

Abstract:

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a promising object for biomarkers search as it contains compounds reflecting changes of biological processes caused by various respiratory diseases including COVID-19. Molecular hydrogen was recently discovered as a new effective antioxidant that can restore lung function after COVID-19. The effect of molecular hydrogen on lung function was studied by comparing EBC protein profiles before and after hydrogen therapy in volunteers who had recovered from COVID-19. Total 108 EBC samples were collected with RTube devices from recovered volunteers before and after hydrogen inhalation. The collecting tube was additionally rinsed with methanol. Peptides obtained after tryptic digestion were analyzed by LC-MS/MS using a nano-LC Dionex system coupled to tims TOF Pro (Bruker) tandem high-resolution mass-spectrometer located in Skoltech. Totally 478 proteins and 1350 peptides were revealed. It was shown that in EBC of the group after the hydrogen therapy, the concentration of structural and protective proteins increased significantly, as well as the average number of detected proteins increased by 15% (from 349 to 398), and the intensity of the 36 most common proteins increased ~3 times compared with the group, which did not receive the therapy. Dermcidin, an antibiotic and proteolytic protein, was found one of the most often found proteins in the group after therapy. Overall, mass spectrometry based analysis showed both quantitative and qualitative EBC proteome changes before and after the hydrogen therapy. This work was partially supported by the RFBR grant 18-29-09158 MK.