Adult-onset asthma associated with metabolic syndrome

Adult-onset asthma was associated with metabolic syndrome, independent of age, sex, BMI and smoking history, researchers reported in Respiratory Medicine.

“Combined, [metabolic syndrome] could be an important player in worsened asthma control in [adult-onset asthma] and could be seen as a treatable trait,” Geertje M, de Boer, MD, PhD candidate in the department of pulmonary medicine at Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland and Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues wrote. “Whether [metabolic syndrome] itself is a risk factor for asthma or if the risk is only one of its components, remains unclear.”

The cross-sectional study included 81 participants from the outpatient clinic of two teaching hospitals in Rotterdam. Researchers compared metabolic syndrome and lipid-derived inflammatory markers in patients with adult-onset asthma (n = 27; mean age, 57 years; 55.6% women), childhood onset asthma (n = 25; mean age, 42 years; 52% women) and matched control subjects (n = 29; mean age, 41 years; 53.6% women). Lung function tests, blood tests and physical activity tracking were performed for all participants. Adult-onset asthma was defined as asthma diagnosis after age 18 years, and metabolic syndrome was defined according to the international joint interim criteria.

Results showed an association between adult-onset asthma and metabolic syndrome (OR = 3.64; 95% CI, 1.16-11.42; P = .03) even after adjusting for age, sex, BMI and smoking history. In addition, patients with adult-onset asthma had higher median serum IL-6 level (3.1 pg/mL vs. 1.13 pg/mL; P = .002) and leptin-adiponectin ratio (6.21 pg/mL vs. 2.24 pg/mL; P = .039) compared with controls.

Researchers did not observe these results among patients with childhood-onset asthma or controls.

According to the researchers, these results should be considered an important signal and may aid in the design of future adult-onset asthma studies.

“We suggest that adipose tissue-derived inflammatory markers, produced in adipose tissue, are contributing to the immunopathology of [adult-onset asthma],” the researchers wrote. “[Metabolic syndrome] and not only obesity, should be regarded as an important treatable trait in [adult-onset asthma].”