Association between leptin and asthma in adults

Akshay Sood ^1*, Carlos A. Camargo Jr ² and Earl S. Ford ³

¹ Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, United States
² Massachusetts General Hospital and Channing Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, United States
³ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: asood2{at}siumed.edu.

Accepted 11 January 2006

Abstract

Background: Leptin, a pro-inflammatory cytokine produced by adipose tissue, has been previously shown to be associated with asthma in children. We hypothesized that high serum leptin concentrations also would be associated with asthma in adults.

Methods: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey is a cross-sectional study that included fasting serum leptin concentrations and self-report of doctor-diagnosed asthma. Data were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression analysis.

Results: Among 5,876 participants, subjects with current asthma had a higher mean unadjusted leptin concentration than those who never had asthma (geometric mean ± SE: 9.2 µg/L ± 0.6 vs. 7.6 µg/L ± 0.2; p = 0.02). After adjustment for triceps skin fold thickness and other covariates, the association between leptin and asthma appeared stronger among women than men, and among premenopausal women than postmenopausal women. Body mass index (BMI) also was associated with current asthma in women. However, this association was not much affected by adjustment for leptin concentrations.

Conclusions: The results of this large population-based study support the hypothesis that leptin is associated with asthma among women. In addition, while BMI also is related to asthma in women, this study does not support that leptin contributes much to this association.

Keywords: asthma, leptin, menopause, sex

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