Adipokines, asymmetrical dimethylarginine, and pulmonary function in adolescents with asthma and obesity

Abstract

Objective: This study was to investigate whether the metabolic abnormalities of adipokines and asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA) associate with pulmonary function deficits in adolescents with obesity and asthma. Methods: This study enrolled 28 obese adolescents with asthma, 46 obese adolescents without asthma, 58 normal-weight adolescents with asthma, and 63 healthy control subjects. Serum levels of leptin, high-molecule-weight (HMW) adiponectin, retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4), asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA), and pulmonary function were qualified. Results: The obese subjects had higher levels of leptin and ADMA but lower levels of HMW adiponectin than the normal-weight subjects with or without asthma. The subjects with asthma had higher levels of RBP4 than those without asthma. The obese adolescents with asthma had lowest forced expiratory lung volume in the first second (FEV₁)/forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio among the four study groups. In all the study subjects and in the subjects with asthma alone, the FEV₁/FVC ratio associated negatively with leptin, however, such association was rendered non-significant when adjusted for BMI. The pulmonary function deficits associated inversely with BMI percentile in the subjects with asthma. However, the decreased FEV₁/FVC ratio was not correlated with HMW adiponectin, RBP4 or ADMA. Conclusions: Our present study confirmed obstructive pattern of pulmonary function characterized by the reduced FEV₁/FVC ratio in the obese adolescents with asthma. These pulmonary deficits were associated inversely with the increased BMI percentile.

Keywords:

• Adolescents
• asthma
• HMW adiponectin
• leptin
• obesity
• RBP4

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Mexican adolescents and their parents for their participation in the study. We also thank Emma Guadalupe Gazcón Morales, Daniel Chavez Vazquez, Fernando Vega Pineda, and Sergio Arturo Mavil Cortes for their help with laboratory measures.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Funding

This work was financially supported by HIM/2013/015, Mexico.