Pulmonary function and levels of serum leptin and interleukin-6 in women with bronchial asthma

Asthma in obese patients is a specific condition proven to be hard to manage and control. It prevails in elderly women and is characterized by low or none eosinophilic airway inflammation. The exact mechanism of the condition remains to be unclear.The goal of the study was to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI), pulmonary function and serum levels of leptin and interleukin-6. The study group included 133 postmenopausal patients of average age 64. 73 of them had BMI<30 and 60 were obese (BMI 30,0 and up). Pulmonary function was measured according to ATS/ERS guidelines; interleukin-6 and leptin were determined by ELISA. All data were presented as mediane/quartile range.Obesity was found have significant infulence on pulmonary function, including FEV1: 79% (65...93) for non-obese vs 65% (54...77) in obese, p=0,004; and FVC: 99% (86...112) for non-obese vs 81% (70...94) for obese, p<0,001. BMI inversely correlated with both indices only in non-obese group. The reversibility test was positive in both groups.Leptin levels were found to be significantly different between groups: 29,4 (21...38) ng/ml for non-obese and 61 (45...84) ng/ml for obese women, p<0,001 and correlated strongly with BMI (r=0,67). Interleukin-6 levels did not differ significantly between groups and showed no correlation with BMI, on the contrary. However, leptin and interleukin-6 did not correlate with asthma severity.In our study, we did not found any support that leptin or inte...
Source: European Respiratory Journal - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Clinical Problems Source Type: research