Systemic Inflammation and Lung Function Impairment in Morbidly Obese Subjects with the Metabolic Syndrome

Background. Obesity and asthma are associated. There is a relationship between lung function impairment and the metabolic syndrome. Whether this relationship also exists in the morbidly obese patients is still unknown. Hypothesis. Low-grade systemic inflammation associated with the metabolic syndrom...

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Main Authors: Astrid van Huisstede, Manuel Castro Cabezas, Erwin Birnie, Gert-Jan M. van de Geijn, Arjan Rudolphus, Guido Mannaerts, Tjin L. Njo, Pieter S. Hiemstra, Gert-Jan Braunstahl
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2013-01-01
Series:Journal of Obesity
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/131349
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Summary:Background. Obesity and asthma are associated. There is a relationship between lung function impairment and the metabolic syndrome. Whether this relationship also exists in the morbidly obese patients is still unknown. Hypothesis. Low-grade systemic inflammation associated with the metabolic syndrome causes inflammation in the lungs and, hence, lung function impairment. Methods. This is cross-sectional study of morbidly obese patients undergoing preoperative screening for bariatric surgery. Metabolic syndrome was assessed according to the revised NCEP-ATP III criteria. Results. A total of 452 patients were included. Patients with the metabolic syndrome (n=293) had significantly higher blood monocyte (mean 5.3 versus 4.9, P=0.044) and eosinophil percentages (median 1.0 versus 0.8, P=0.002), while the total leukocyte count did not differ between the groups. The FEV1/FVC ratio was significantly lower in patients with the metabolic syndrome (76.7% versus 78.2%, P=0.032). Blood eosinophils were associated with FEV1/FVC ratio (adj. B −0.113, P=0.018). Conclusion. Although the difference in FEV1/FVC ratio between the groups is relatively small, in this cross-sectional study, and its clinical relevance may be limited, these data indicate that the presence of the metabolic syndrome may influence lung function impairment, through the induction of relative eosinophilia.
ISSN:2090-0708
2090-0716