Aug. 10, 2026

Diagnosing invasive bacterial infections is tricky. But what if all it took was a breath? Scientists developed a preclinical breath test that detects bacteria infecting different regions of the body.

What's Hot in the Microbial Sciences? Invasive bacterial infections—those in areas of the body where bacteria are not normally present, like the bloodstream or muscles—are difficult to treat and identify in the clinic. There is a need for diagnostic innovations that help clinicians quickly identify and distinguish them from other potential causes. One emerging strategy is to capitalize on microbial metabolism. Recently, researchers sought to develop other ways of using products of bacterial metabolism to noninvasively detect invasive bacteria. For this, they turned to breath testing. Key points and resources used in this Microbial Minutes are below. Key Points

• Researchers developed a preclinical breath test that detects bacterial metabolism, using intravenously administered carbon 13-enriched substrates that bacteria—but not mammalian cells—break down, producing measurable [13C]CO2 in breath.
• The breath test successfully detected multiple types of invasive infections in mice, including infections of muscle, blood, lungs and bone, and showed minimal background signal in uninfected animals.
• Breath testing also tracked antibiotic effectiveness, with [13C]CO2 levels dropping after treatment, suggesting it could help monitor treatment response—though further studies are needed before use in humans.

Resources Featured Study

• López-Álvarez, M., et al. Detecting Bacteria in Their Mammalian Hosts Using Metabolism-Targeted [13C]CO2 Breath Testing. ACS Central Science, March 18, 2026. 

Additional Sources

• Simpson, S.R., et al. Imaging Diverse Pathogenic Bacteria In Vivo with 18F-Fluoromannitol PET. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2023. 
• Lemos F.F.B., et al. Urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori infection in adult dyspeptic patients: A meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy. World Journal of Gastroenterology, Feb. 14, 2024. 
• Swickrath, M.J., et al. Application of Commercial Non-Dispersive Infrared Spectroscopy Sensors for Sub-ambient Carbon Dioxide Detection. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nov. 16, 2012. 

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