Breathomics in Diabetes Management: A Noninvasive Approach for Precision Health Monitoring

The rising prevalence of diabetes necessitates accurate, noninvasive methods for early detection and personalized management. Breathomics, the investigation of exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs), offers a promising approach for evaluating glycemic control, oxidative stress, and metabolic alterations associated with diabetes. Specific VOCs, such as acetone, isoprene, and ethanol, reflect glucose fluctuations, lipid oxidation, and insulin sensitivity, linking metabolic changes to real-time physiological states. Recent analytical advancements in gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry, and electronic nose technologies have enhanced the reliability and clinical applicability of breath-based assessments. The investigations focus on integrating VOC-based metabolic signatures with lifestyle and behavioral factors to establish a precision, noninvasive framework for diabetes management. This review also discusses key challenges that remain in standardizing breath analysis techniques, interpreting complex breath data, and implementing breath-based technology into personalized diabetes management. Breathomics provides a novel pathway for dynamic real-time assessment of metabolic health, bridging physiological biomarkers with lifestyle responses to enable individualized diabetes management.