{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T16:07:49Z","timestamp":1777565269023,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,5]],"date-time":"2024-08-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1722816000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)","award":["PB-PG-1215\u201320050"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PB-PG-1215\u201320050"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children and the need to distinguish between subtypes (Crohn\u2019s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)) requires lengthy investigative and invasive procedures. Non-invasive, rapid, and cost-effective tests to support these diagnoses are needed. Faecal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are distinctive in IBD. VOC profiles can be rapidly determined using a gas chromatography\u2013sensor device (OdoReader\u00a9). In an inception-cohort of children presenting with suspected IBD, we directly compared the diagnostic fidelity of faecal calprotectin (FCP, a non-specific protein marker of intestinal inflammation) with OdoReader\u00a9 VOC profiles of children subsequently diagnosed with IBD with matched controls diagnosed with other gastrointestinal conditions. The OdoReader\u00a9 was 82% (95% confidence interval 75\u201389%) sensitive and 71% (61\u201380%) specific but did not outperform FCP (sensitivity 93% (77\u201399%) and specificity 86% (67\u201396%); 250 \u00b5g\/g FCP cut off) in the diagnosis of IBD from other gastrointestinal conditions when validated in a separate sample from the same cohort. However, unlike FCP and better than other similar technologies, the OdoReader\u00a9 could distinguish paediatric CD from UC (up to 88% (82\u201393%) sensitivity and 80% (71\u201389%) specificity in the validation set) and justifies further validation in larger studies. A non-invasive test based on VOCs could help streamline and limit invasive investigations in children.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s24155079","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,5]],"date-time":"2024-08-05T18:21:40Z","timestamp":1722882100000},"page":"5079","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Gas Chromatography\u2013Sensor System Aids Diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and Separates Crohn\u2019s from Ulcerative Colitis, in Children"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9765-6978","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rachael","family":"Slater","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular & Clinical Cancer Medicine, Institute of Systems Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GE, UK"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8255-9822","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kukatharmini","family":"Tharmaratnam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Data Science, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GF, UK"}]},{"given":"Salma","family":"Belnour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK"}]},{"given":"Marcus Karl-Heinz","family":"Auth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Paediatric Gastroenterology, Alder Hey Children\u2019s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool L12 2AP, UK"}]},{"given":"Rafeeq","family":"Muhammed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Birmingham Children\u2019s NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham B4 6NH, UK"}]},{"given":"Christine","family":"Spray","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Paediatric Gastroenterology, Bristol Children\u2019s NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol BS2 8BJ, UK"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2788-2464","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Duolao","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2999-6801","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ben","family":"de Lacy Costello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK"}]},{"given":"Marta","family":"Garc\u00eda-Fi\u00f1ana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Data Science, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GF, UK"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6675-249X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephen","family":"Allen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Paediatric Gastroenterology, Alder Hey Children\u2019s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool L12 2AP, UK"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK"}]},{"given":"Chris","family":"Probert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular & Clinical Cancer Medicine, Institute of Systems Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GE, UK"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1053","DOI":"10.1001\/jamapediatrics.2015.1982","article-title":"Inflammatory bowel disease in children and adolescents","volume":"169","author":"Rosen","year":"2015","journal-title":"JAMA Paediatr."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3624","DOI":"10.3748\/wjg.v23.i20.3624","article-title":"Transition of pediatric to adult care in inflammatory bowel disease: Is it as easy as 1, 2, 3?","volume":"23","author":"Afzali","year":"2017","journal-title":"World J. 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