Associations of adipokines with asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema in German schoolchildren

Abstract

There is growing evidence for an association between obesity and asthma, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. We hypothesized that high plasma leptin and low plasma adiponectin concentrations might be related to asthma and allergies in children. Plasma leptin and adiponectin concentrations were measured in a cross‐sectional study involving 462 children aged 10 years. Information on disease symptoms and diagnosis was collected by parental questioning. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used to assess the association between biomarkers and disease. High leptin levels were associated with increased lifetime prevalence of asthma [odds ratio (OR): 3.76; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.42–9.92]. The relationship was particularly strong for non‐atopic asthma (OR: 5.51; 95% CI: 1.99–17.51). No associations were observed between plasma leptin levels and hay fever, and rhinoconjunctivitis. Low adiponectin levels were associated with increased prevalence of both symptoms of atopic dermatitis (OR: 3.23; 95% CI: 1.28–7.76) and ever‐diagnosed eczema (OR: 2.35; 95% CI: 1.13–4.89). In girls and non‐atopic children, stronger associations for both leptin and adiponectin levels with asthma than in boys and atopic children were observed. These results suggest that adipokines may contribute to increased asthma and allergy risk in obese subjects. Stronger associations among girls with non‐atopic asthma may indicate diverse pathological mechanisms.

The influence of leptin on Th1/Th2 balance in obese children with asthma

“…(18) Recently, hormones and cytokines released from adipose tissue have been the focus of research regarding this association. (18) Leptin, a hormone of adipose tissue, is associated with inflammation, (19) and its levels have been shown to be higher in children with asthma than in those without. (20) However, studies of the relationship between leptin and asthma in children have yielded inconsistent results.…”

Pediatric Obesity-Related Asthma: The Role of Metabolic Dysregulation

“…[97][98][99] Clinical studies have demonstrated elevated leptin 21 and reduced adiponectin levels in obese children 33, 100 compared with nonobese children with asthma, suggesting that obesityinduced changes in the systemic adipocytokine milieu may underlie asthma in children. 101 (Table 2). Furthermore, FeNO was not associated with asthma among obese children, 109 and a significant association between BMI and FeNO was observed only among nonasthmatic children.…”

Low Serum Adiponectin Predicts Future Risk for Asthma in Women

“…Leptin, another adipokine, stimulates lymphocytes toward a nonatopic (TH1) cytokine profile rather than an atopic (TH2) one (41). In a small cross-sectional study of German children, serum adiponectin was more strongly associated with nonatopic prevalent asthma than with atopic prevalent asthma (no interaction term reported), using a self-reported measure of atopy (Table E3) (31). However, using a similar measure to define atopy, our findings suggest that the association between serum adiponectin and incident asthma among women does not vary by atopic status.…”

“…The literature pertaining to the adiponectin-asthma association is conflicting and confusing. Five human studies have analyzed the association between serum adiponectin and odds of prevalent asthma, independent of obesity (6,(31)(32)(33)(34), of which three studies show no significant associations (32)(33)(34) (Table E3). These studies are limited by their smaller numbers of girls/women, modest effect sizes, and lower prevalence of asthma and obesity in populations outside the United States (32-34).…”