Proinflammatory pattern in the lower airways of non-asthmatic obese adolescents

Background: Obesity is known to be a pro-inflammatory condition affecting multiple organs. Obesity as a systemic pro-inflammatory state, might be associated with bronchial inflammation in non-smoking adolescents with a BMI >= 30 kg/m2 without evidence of concomitant chronic diseases.Materials and methods: We studied non-asthmatic obese patients (n = 20; median age 15.8 years; BMI 35.0 kg/m2) compared to age matched healthy control subjects (n = 20; median age 17.5 years; BMI 21.5 kg/m2). Induced sputum differential cell counts and sputum mRNA levels were assessed for all study subjects. Serum levels of CRP, IL-6, and IL-8 were measured. Further, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-13, IL-17, TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, and IP-10 protein levels were analyzed in induced sputum was.Results: Serum CRP levels, sputum inflammatory cell load and sputum eosinophils differed significantly between obese and non-obese subjects, for sputum neutrophils, a correlation was shown with BMI >= 30 kg/m2. Differ-ences were also observed for sputum mRNA expression of IL6, IL8, IL13, IL17, IL23, and IFN-gamma, as well as the transcription factors T-bet, GATA3, and FoxP3.Conclusions: Increased bronchial inflammation, triggered by systemic or local inflammatory effects of obesity itself, may account for the higher rates of airway disease in obese adolescents.

Automated summary

This study found that obese adolescents have increased bronchial inflammation, which may be caused by the pro-inflammatory effects of obesity itself. This finding is important for understanding the relationship between obesity and airway diseases.