Comorbities and systemic inflammation in asthma

OBJECTIVE: In this study we aimed to evaluate the effect of co-morbidities on clinical manifestations and systemic inflammation in asthma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected our study group among volunteer asthma patients who applied to our pulmonology clinic between December 2013 and September 2014 and have been diagnosed based on GINA guideline. Our study group consisted of 120 (71 Female, 49 male) clinically stable asthma patients who have been treated according to the guideline. 35 volunteer patients (19 female, 16 male) with similar age and gender distribution were included in our control group. After centrifugation of duly obtained blood samples, acquired serums were preserved in -80°C degrees at deep freezers until study date. Demographic data, respiratory function test results, presence of comorbidities and asthma control test scores were recorded. Among systemic inflammatory and bio-markers; ECP, Osteopontin, IL-6, IL-8, Adiponectin and hs-CRP serum levels of both study and control groups were evaluated using commercial ELISA kits. RESULTS: Study and control groups had similar age and gender distributions, mean age for groups were 38,80±11,93 and 35,86±7,97 years accordingly. IL-6 and IL-8 serum levels were significantly high in group of patients with comorbidities. In study group, by evaluating the relation between comorbidity load and bio-markers, a significant positive association between hs-CRP, IL-6, IL-8 and comorbidity load was detected. Also a negative and statistically significant association between BMI and adiponectien, hs-CRP and also ECP was identified. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the high frequency of symptoms even in patients under medical control. Our findings suggest the possibility of impact of comorbidities on systemic inflammation. To evaluate the impact of comorbidities on asthma control and systemic markers, further studies are needed. Keywords: Asthma, comorbidities, systemic inflammation, biomarkers