Association between Leptin and Asthma in Children

Kim, Kyung Won; Lee, Kyung Eun; Kim, Eun Soo; Song, Tae Won; Park, Jun Young; Sohn, Myung Hyun; Kim, Kyu Earn

Abstract

PURPOSE
The prevalences of asthma and obesity have increased substantially during the last several decades in many countries, leading to speculation that obese persons might be at increased risk of asthma development. As a part of the investigation of asthma pathogenesis associated with obesity, we evaluated the role of leptin in childhood asthma and its effect on the levels of atopy markers, pulmonary function and bronchial hyperresponsiveness.
METHODS
We studied 126 asthmatic children and 38 healthy children. Body mass index was calculated using height and weight, which were measured on the same day that pulmonary function tests and methacholine challenge tests were performed. Total eosinophil count, total serum IgE, serum eosinophil cationic protein and leptin were measured in all subjects.
RESULTS
BMI percentile did not differ between the asthma group and controls. Leptin did not show any difference between asthmatic patients and control subjects in all, male and female participants. Leptin was found to be associated with FEV1 (P<0.01), but not with FVC, FEF25-75% and PC20 in all subjects. Also, there were no correlations between leptin and markers of atopy, which are total eosinophil count, total serum IgE, serum eosinophil cationic protein.
CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that leptin showed close associations with pulmonary function and may have disease-modifying effects in children with asthma.