COVID-19 vaccination affects breath CH₄ dynamics

Background/Summary

Methane (CH₄) is well known as a component in the exhaled breath of humans. It has been assumed for a long time that formation of CH₄ in humans occurs exclusively by anaerobic microbial activity (methanogenesis) in the gastrointestinal tract. A fraction of the produced CH₄ is excreted via the lungs and can then be detected in the breath.  However, recent studies challenge this view by showing that CH₄ might also be produced endogenously in cells by oxidative-reductive stress reactions. Thus, an increased and fluctuating level of breath CH₄ compared to the base level of an individual might also indicate enhanced oxidative stress levels.

Generally, vaccines generate a strong immune response including the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. To evaluate the effect from current vaccines against COVID-19 on breath CH₄ dynamics, breath CH₄ was monitored from 13 subjects prior and after the injection of several COVID-vaccines. Prior to COVID-19 vaccination the concentration of breath CH₄ was measured daily for a period of two weeks by gas chromatograph flame ionization detection (GC-FID, with analytical precision better than 10 parts per billion, ppb) to obtain the individual variation range of breath CH₄ for each subject. Following vaccination, CH₄ breath samples were collected in high frequency for a period of 14 days.

All subjects monitored showed a strong response in breath CH₄ release 1-72 hours after vaccination including peak values varying by a factor of up to ±100 compared to the base values. Thus, it is highly likely that observed breath CH₄ variations are coupled to immune responses due to Covid-19 vaccination. These preliminary results strongly support the hypothesis that non-microbial methane liberation and utilisation in the human body might be also linked to cellular processes and stress responses independent of classical methanogenesis.

Presentation of the results on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CJaWGM_ENw