Insulin resistance as a predictor of incident asthma-like symptoms in adults.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

There is accumulating evidence that obesity is associated with an increased risk of asthma. It has been hypothesized that insulin resistance may be involved in obesity-induced asthma, but till date there is no prospective data on this issue.

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate the association of obesity and insulin resistance with the incidence of asthma-like symptoms in adults.

METHODS:

Out of a random sample of 12 934 persons from a general population, 6784 (52.5%) were included and participated in a health examination in 1999-2001. After 5 years they were re-invited and 4516 (66.6%) participated at follow-up. At baseline three obesity measures were considered: body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio. In addition, fasting glucose and insulin were measured for determination of insulin resistance. Information on asthma-like symptoms at baseline and follow-up were obtained by questionnaires. A total of 3441 participants defined as non-asthmatic at baseline and with complete information on all the considered variables were included in the analyses. Data were controlled for confounding by sex, age, social status, and smoking.

RESULTS:

All obesity measures were associated with incident wheezing and asthma-like symptoms. In addition, insulin resistance was associated with incident wheezing [odds ratio (OR) 1.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.38-2.54] and asthma-like symptoms (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.23-2.10). The effect of insulin resistance was stronger than that of obesity and was independent of sex.

CONCLUSION:

We found that insulin resistance was associated with an increased risk of developing asthma-like symptoms. This finding supports the hypothesis that obesity and asthma may be linked through inflammatory pathways also involved in insulin resistance.

• Authors: B H Thuesen, L L N Husemoen, L-G Hersoug, C Pisinger, A Linneberg
• Journal: Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (Clin Exp Allergy) Vol. 39 Issue 5 Pg. 700-7 (May 2009) ISSN: 1365-2222 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 19260867 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)

Chemical References

• Insulin

Topics

• Asthma (epidemiology, etiology)
• Body Mass Index
• Denmark (epidemiology)
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Humans
• Incidence
• Insulin (analysis)
• Insulin Resistance (immunology)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Obesity (epidemiology, etiology)
• Respiratory Sounds (physiology)
• Risk Factors
• Sex Factors
• Surveys and Questionnaires
• Waist Circumference