Asbestos mineral fibre exposure significantly affects volatile organic compound profiles of mesothelial cell lines in vitro

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, this condition continues to represent a significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Due to the long disease latency, non-invasive diagnostic modalities such as breath analysis may enhance MM early detection by identifying the disease specific pattern of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath. In this study, solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to extract VOCs from the headspace of two mesothelioma cell lines: MSTO-211 H (biphasic mesothelioma) and NCI-H28 (epithelioid mesothelioma) in addition to MET-5a (non-malignant mesothelial cell line), following exposure to asbestos mineral fibers (actinolite, amosite, crocidolite and chrysotile) and a non-asbestos fiber control (wollastonite). Multivariate statistical analysis was applied to identify VOC-based biomarkers associated with asbestos exposure within the cell lines. Data confirms that exposure to mineral fibers (including the non-asbestos fiber control) induces significant alterations in the levels of as many as 24 VOCs in each cell line. This is the first study to investigate the impact of asbestos mineral fiber exposure on the VOC profile of MM cell lines. This may be relevant to studies involving mesothelioma patients, as these VOCs could also serve as indicators of asbestos exposure in individuals who have been exposed to asbestos.