Association of Metabolic Syndrome and Asthma Status: A Prospective Study from Guilan Province, Iran

Introduction: Asthma is defined as a chronic inflammatory airway disease. Recent studies have shown the association between metabolic syndrome and deterioration of lung functions in patients with asthma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between metabolic syndrome and asthma status. Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, 160 asthmatic patients attending Razi hospital in Guilan province were divided equally into two groups of 80 patients. The case group comprised asthmatic patient with metabolic syndrome and the control group involved asthmatic patient without metabolic syndrome. Blood pressure, height, weight, waist circumferences, fasting blood glucose and lipid profiles were measured by standard methods. Asthma severity was determined based on clinical symptoms and GINA criteria. To evaluate pulmonary function parameters, spirometry was performed for the patients. Results: Pulmonary function tests including FEF, FVC and FEV1 were significantly lower in the case group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Also, a significant negative correlation was found between waist circumference, cardiovascular risk factors (including diabetes, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension) with spirometric indices (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Metabolic syndrome causes major declines of pulmonary parameters in asthma patients; thus controlling metabolic syndrome might improve symptoms of asthma.